Louis Sharp ready to make history and headlines Down Under

The latest chapter in the remarkable life of Louis Sharp commences with this month’s exciting double-header down under in Australia.

First up the talented teenager will become the youngest driver to ever compete in the star-studded Race Of Champions taking place at the Accor Stadium in Sydney on 7-8 March. Then, less than a week later, Sharp will make his debut on the premier Grand Prix bill when he contests the opening round of this year’s FIA Formula 3 Championship on the F1 undercard in Melbourne (14-16 March).

This weekend in Sydney, Louis will be representing New Zealand, the country of his upbringing, in Friday’s ROC Nations Cup alongside multiple rally champion Hayden Paddon.

Then, on Saturday, he will be racing a mixture of potent race and rally cars going head-to-head against some of the sport’s greatest names in the Race Of Champions. Among others this year’s impressive line-up includes four-time F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel, former F1 aces Valtteri Bottas, David Coulthard, Heikki Kovalainen and Mick Schumacher as well as nine-time FIA World Rally Champion, Sébastien Loeb.

Not turning 18 until 11 May, Sharp will be the first 17-year-old in history to contest the annual showpiece event. The previous youngest was Lando Norris, runner-up in last year’s Formula 1 World Championship, who made his ROC debut in Riyadh in 2018 having turned 18 a few months earlier.

However, having won back-to-back British F4 and GB3 titles, the 17-year-old sensation not only warrants his place in the prestigious Race of Champions but also his promotion to F3, the next step towards a prized place on the Formula 1 grid.

“Race of Champions is going to be super cool and I’m really looking forward to it,” grinned Sharp without any obvious trepidation to be up against such revered opposition. “Obviously it’s something completely different to what I’ve done before – the format is different and the cars I’ll be driving will be totally alien. So it’s going to be a whole new ball game for me to learn – a lot of new experiences and a lot of fun.”

Intriguingly, this will not be the first time that he and Hayden have been team-mates. Back in 2019, at the tender age of just 12, Sharp was co-driver for Paddon (photos top row below) in the NZ Ashley Forest Rallysprint… which they won!

“I first met Hayden a long time ago, so teaming up with him and going against the others in this event will be something special,” admitted Louis. “He’s a very good driver and will have really good experience in all the rally cars – we should make for a good team.”

While honoured and thrilled to have been selected for the Race of Champions, Louis’ main focus is on the FIA Formula 3 Championship – the next rung on the ladder towards his Formula 1 dream.

“I’m super excited,” he said ahead of his F3 debut in Melbourne, which comes in the week immediately following Race of Champions. “It’s a good progression in my career on the pathway to F1, which is where I want to be. I’m with Rodin Motorsport, the team I’ve been with ever since coming to Europe… and I couldn’t ask for a better place to be.

“It’s definitely a big advantage. I know the team super well. They are the ones that bought me over to the UK and, in the two full seasons I’ve done, I’ve won two championships with them – so it’s a 100 per cent winning success rate so far. F3 is a big step up, it’ll be tough but there’s no reason why we can’t go out and repeat the successes we’ve had.”

To continue his winning streak, Sharp will have to overcome his strongest competition to date with 29 equally ambitious rising stars on the F3 grid – the hottest young talents representing no fewer than 22 different countries from right around the world. While many have previous experience at this level, the championship has introduced a new 190mph Dallara-built single-seater racer for 2025 incorporating many F1 design philosophies, thus all the teams face a similar learning curve.

“All 30 of us drivers are super quick,” continued Sharp. “The ones that are able to be consistently in the top 10 are the ones who will be in contention for the top places in the championship. The new car definitely helps to level the playing field. Just because some teams have been strong or some teams have struggled in the past it really means nothing.”

To date, the F3 teams and drivers have just had three days of pre-season testing on the Barcelona Grand Prix circuit. And both Louis and Rodin impressed (photos below bottom). The first two days were dry and the Kiwi was the fastest of those with no previous F3 race experience in sixth place overall. It rained on the final day and Louis was consistently among the pacesetters on a wet track.

“The Barcelona F3 test went as well as we could have hoped,” he confirmed. “The team did a really great job over the winter getting the new cars ready. That said, it’s still early days and everyone will be making huge improvements – but so far, so good.

“The new car is a big step up from GB3 but I really like it. It’s super rewarding and a lot of fun to drive with a lot more power (380bhp from a 3.4-litre 6-cylinder engine) and a lot more downforce.”

While Barcelona was a confidence builder, Louis knows he is going to be in at the deep end come the opening round on the Albert Park Grand Prix circuit.

“Melbourne is going to be super tricky,” he admitted. “Being a street circuit it’s a track where no one can test and with the timetable we don’t get many laps before qualifying. I’ve done as much as I possibly can to prepare on the simulator but that’s never quite the same as being in the car. It’s going to be all about maximising the laps we have and making no mistakes.

“I want to start off the campaign as strongly as possible, picking up where I left off at the end of last season. I want to be at the front but, I know, it’s going to be very difficult. New championship, new car, new circuits and a new environment, so it will take some time to adapt… but I want to be fighting for points from the outset and hopefully in the mix for a race win.”

Looking further ahead, Louis is targeting a ‘three-peat’ with a third successive title – an unprecedented feat that would truly cement his position as a future F1 star.

“My goal is to approach this season as I’ve approached every other season, wanting to win,” declared Sharp. “I want to be in title frame come the end of the campaign and I want to be the guy who wins the championship.

“The new car makes that slightly easier as it levels the playing field out a little bit – saying that, the second and third year drivers are still going to have a huge advantage compared to us rookies. Even so, there’s no reason why I won’t be fighting for the championship and that’s very much the objective.”