Steve Slater is a Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 commentator for STAR Sports

STAR Sports

STAR Sports is a cable sports network owned by STAR TV and ESPN. It shows sports programs. In partnership with ESPN, its corporate name is ESPN STAR Sports. They are the official Asian station of the Barclays Premier League...

 and columnist for espnstar.com. He started in motor racing first as a ‘hopeful' amateur driver, then as writer and commentator and. Slater is a qualified light aircraft pilot and owns an aircraft restoration company. He is popularly known as voice of Formula One in Asia.

Early life

Born in Darlington

Darlington

Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

, County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

 in 1957, Slater's interest in motor sport began with rallying and rally-cross; marshalling and then competing with cars such as Mini Coopers in the mid-1970s as a hobby in the North of England.

Career

In 1985 he became a freelance writer, local radio broadcaster and motor racing commentator. Slater also launched a regional motoring magazine and became one of the first satellite TV motor racing commentators for the Screensport channel.

Subsequent activities included handling media relations for Scotland's first-ever international motor race; the 1987 Scottish SuperPrix Formula Three

Formula Three

Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...

 event, which featured drivers such as Johnny Herbert

Johnny Herbert

John Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B...

, David Coulthard

David Coulthard

David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...

 and Damon Hill

Damon Hill

Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...

. He also spent two years working with Britain's top stunt driver, Russ Swift

Russ Swift

Paul Russell "Russ" Swift is a British driver who is known for performing stunts and for precision driving.-Career:Starting out as a rally co-driver, and later moving into the sport of Autotesting, Russ Swift has built his career on a sturdy motorsport foundation...

, to create a driving display promoting Rover cars on dealer forecourts all over the country.

In 1989 Slater moved to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to join the agency CSS Promotions. One of his first jobs was the promotion of the British Touring Car Championship

British Touring Car Championship

The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...

 and the setting up of a new team, supported by Canadian sponsor Labatt

Labatt Brewing Company

Labatt Brewing Company Ltd. is a Canadian beer company founded by John Kinder Labatt in 1847 in London, Ontario. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew; it is now part of Anheuser-Busch InBev...

. He now heads up Kingpin Media, an agency that handles copywriting and creation of media events, in addition to providing support for the Rockingham Motor Speedway

Rockingham Motor Speedway

Rockingham is the UK's most modern motorsport venue and Europe's fastest racing circuit, hosting corporate driving days, driver training, conferencing & exhibitions, vehicle manufacturing events, track days, testing, driving experiences and motorsport...

 track.

Alongside these activities, Stephen continued to operate as a journalist, writing for Autosport

Autosport

Autosport is a weekly magazine covering motorsport, published in the United Kingdom every Thursday by Haymarket Consumer Media. It was first published on 25 August 1950 by Gregor Grant, immediately prior to the Silverstone International Trophy meeting of that year...

, Motor Sport

Motor Sport (magazine)

Motor Sport was founded in the UK in 1924 as the Brooklands Gazette, the first edition appearing in July of that year. In August 1925 the title was changed to the all-encompassing "Motor Sport". For most of its history , the editor of the magazine was Bill Boddy.The monthly magazine underwent a...

 and The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

. TV race commentaries included BTCC, DTM

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe....

, Formula Three and Formula One Grands Prix for the BBC, ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

, Eurosport

Eurosport

Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...

 and Sky

British Sky Broadcasting

British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....

.

In 1995 Slater moved to Malmö

Malmö

Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, where he acted as a marketing and promotions manager for the Mantorp Park

Mantorp Park

Mantorp Park is a motor racing circuit near the town of Mantorp in Mjölby Municipality, Sweden. The circuit was built in 1969 with finance from BP Sweden as a permanent road course and a drag strip...

 motor racing circuit group and clients such as Mobil

Mobil

Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...

, Land Rover

Land Rover

Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...

 and Volvo

Volvo

AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...

 as well as developing the Swedish Touring Car Championship

Swedish Touring Car Championship

Swedish Touring Car Championship was a touring car racing series based in Sweden, but also with rounds in Norway. They began operating in 1996, heavily influenced by the British Touring Car Championship and the success of BTCC racing on Swedish television...

. He was subsequently based in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, working between Europe and Detroit as European PR co-ordinator for Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

. Even then, he continued to return to England fortnightly to commentate for Sky TV.

Slater returned to the UK in 1998. In addition to TV commentary work on national motorsport for Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

, Sky in the UK, and - of course - on STAR Sports. He also acts as the UK-based reporter, presenter and feature producer for the channel's 'Raceday' magazine programme.