Kiwi teenager Louis Sharp moved one step closer to his Formula 1 dream when making his debut in this year’s FIA Formula 3 Championship on the undercard to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia.
The 17-year-old rising star earned his promotion to the F1 bill by winning back-to-back British F4 and GB3 Championships and is now gunning for an unprecedented third consecutive title as he scales the motorsport ladder.
While, due to the unfortunate actions of others on Saturday and pouring rain on Sunday, Louis didn’t get the desired results, once again there was no doubting his potential as a future F1 star in the making.
Sharp had arrived in Melbourne for his F3 debut in buoyant mood, keen make his mark against 29 of the world’s top young chargers. Along with his two Rodin Motorsport team-mates, he had been among the fastest during the only pre-season test in Barcelona and then days earlier had savoured an incredible weekend at the Race Of Champions in Sydney, competing against some of the sport’s top stars and making history as the prestigious event’s youngest-ever participant.
Despite having no previous experience of racing head-to-head in such a stadium event, nor of driving any of the vehicles, Louis performed admirably coming within two tenths of a second of beating nine time World Rally Champion and eventual ROC winner, Sébastien Loeb, in a pair of Toyota GR86s – impressive for a teenager who does not even have a road licence yet!
While honoured to have selected for the Race Of Champions, Sharp’s main focus this year is on competing for the 2025 FIA Formula 3 title – the next step on the ladder towards Formula 1 – and Albert Park was always going to be a challenging curtain-raiser for the 10 round season ahead.
Being a street circuit, there is no chance for a rookie to test on the track ahead of the event and all the second year drivers had the huge benefit of previous experience from 12 months ago.
Even so, Louis typically acquitted himself well and was confident of being among the front-runners going into Friday’s all-important Qualifying session. With two sets of new tyres, the drivers would have just a couple of ‘push’ laps to maximise the extra grip provided by pristine rubber.
Louis made a small mistake on his first set and never had the chance to capitalise on his second set as first the session was halted by a Red Flag and then ended early following various on track incidents. As a result, Sharp would start both races from a mid-grid 15th position.
“We undoubtedly had the pace and potential was strong but qualifying it didn’t quite go as planned,” he admitted. “A top five time was well within reach, but I lost a few tenths on my first ‘push’ lap and then two red flags towards the end of the session hurt our chances of posting a better time.”
Incited by qualifying, Louis lined up for Saturday afternoon’s 20-lap Sprint Race determined to make up the lost ground… and that he did in sensational style.
Having made a great getaway, the Kiwi displayed stunning racecraft to pick off no fewer than seven rivals in the first few corners, rocketing from his 15th spot on the grid into an impressive eighth… but then his meteoric progress was halted when struck from behind.
That the errant Austrian was subsequently given a penalty by the Race Stewards was of little consolation to Louis who, after being spun around, found himself right at the back of the jostling pack. He did make some progress through the field to finish 17th but two lengthy Safety Car interruptions severely restricted any hopes of a points finish on debut.
“It was a disappointing day at the office – not the result we worked for,” agreed Sharp. “I pass half the field in half a lap then rear contact drops me to last. The speed was there, we just needed some luck.”
His fortune, however, did not improve when Sunday dawned damp for the Feature Race. Knowing his prowess for racing in the wet, Louis was relishing the opportunity presented by the tricky conditions.
His enthusiastic hopes of making progress from his mid-field qualifying position, however, were first thwarted when the organisers opted to release drivers in a processional order from behind the Safety Car rather than letting them line up for a traditional grid start, and secondly by a helmet malfunction which allowed water to permeate his visor making visibility even more problematical.
Moreover, various incidents further down the field resulted in two lengthy Safety Car interventions. Then, with the rain falling even harder, the race was Red Flagged before the finish when the treacherous conditions were deemed too wet for racing to resume.
Having lost a handful of places when visibility was at its worst, Louis displayed great skill in exacting circumstances, battling back to 14th before the terminal Red Flag ended his progress through the pack. Once again, it was an opportunity lost due to circumstances well beyond Louis’ control.
“It wasn’t the start I’ve been dreaming of all winter… but there were plenty of positives which will serve me well in the future,” concluded the Kiwi. “The car – and the team – certainly have the pace to be challenging for points and podiums in the races ahead and I have now experienced all the ups and downs of a Formula 3 weekend. We’ll put Melbourne behind us and use the lessons learnt to good effect in the races to come.”
Next up on the FIA Formula 3 calendar is Bahrain in four weeks’ time.
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