Louis Sharp followed up his best-ever fourth-place finish at Imola, Italy, in May, with two equally standout top ten finishes on his first-ever visit to Monaco the following weekend. “Ever since I was a kid I’ve fantasised about racing at Monaco, so it was a dream come true for me,” admitted Louis. “It was super cool to get my first taste of it and overall it has been a fantastic experience.”
It was an outstanding debut on the famously challenging harbourside streets, too, further cementing the highly promising teenager’s reputation as one of motorsport’s most exciting rising stars. While many of his rivals benefitted massively from having raced in Monte Carlo two or three times previously, Louis had never competed on a street circuit – let alone one as famously unforgiving as the barrier-lined streets of Monte Carlo.
The young New Zealander arrived in the Mediterranean Principality as a complete novice and, making life even harder, had just a single 45-minute Free Practice session on Thursday to learn the circuit and fine-tune his Rodin Motorsport-entered F3 car. Then it was straight into Friday’s ultra-short 16-minute Qualifying session ahead of the Sprint and Feature races on Saturday and Sunday mornings – just before the iconic Monaco Grand Prix.
Louis, who turned 18 earlier this month, completed just a handful of flying learning laps in Free Practice, then worked closely with his technical team to improve the chassis setup ahead of critical Qualifying.
On a narrow track where overtaking is notoriously difficult, grid position is paramount, and, with so little time to deliver the ultimate lap, the pressure in Qualifying was immense. Under those circumstances, rookie Sharp did well to qualify in the top half of the grid – though it could have been even better. A slight braking error – his only one during an otherwise flawless debut weekend – saw him take a brief trip up an escape road. During the multiple-point turn required to extricate himself, he lost critical tyre temperature, costing him valuable time on subsequent flying laps.
“It’s pretty tough competing against guys who’ve been racing here for years but I’m pretty sure we’d have been top five without the mistake,” he reflected with a tinge of frustration. “That said, it was always going to be a big challenge as I didn’t have many laps to get up-to-speed and went into Qualifying on the back foot.”
As it stood, Louis would start both races from a very respectable 13th in a highly competitive 30-car field. It was ‘unlucky 13’ too, as the top 12 are reversed for the opening Sprint race grid – meaning he narrowly missed out on a sensational pole position by just one place. On a circuit where track position is king, such a start could have set the stage for a stunning debut win. Instead, Louis would have to impress from a lower starting position – and impress he certainly did.
Defying the notion that overtaking in Monaco is nearly impossible, Louis gained three places on the opening lap of Saturday’s Sprint race, moving into a points-scoring tenth place. Then, on the penultimate lap, he capitalised on a brief tussle between the two cars ahead to grab another position and finish a highly commendable ninth – notably up four places from his midfield grid slot.
In Sunday’s longer Feature Race, starting again from 13th, his first lap wasn’t quite as fruitful, but he kept his composure. As others ahead made costly mistakes, Louis steadily gained ground, once again taking the chequered flag in ninth.bThat meant scoring points in both races for the first time this season – an impressive feat for his first-ever street races and vital experience for his future rise up the motorsport ladder.
“It was incredibly tough to pass but in both races I managed to be quite smart and made several overtakes. I think we maximised what could be achieved from where we started. It wasn’t quite where I want to be but it was a fabulous experience and I have learned so much.”
2025 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 1 14-16 March Melbourne, Australia
Round 2 11-13 April Sakhir, Bahrain
Round 3 16-18 May Imola, Italy
Round 4 22-25 May Monaco, Monte Carlo
Round 5 30 May – 1 June Barcelona. Spain
Round 6 27-29 June Spielberg, Austria
Round 7 4-6 July Silverstone, UK
Round 8 25-27 July Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Round 9 1-3 August Budapest, Hungary
Round 10 5-7 September Monza, Italy
The FIA Formula 3 Championship features at ten Grands Prix weekends between March and September allowing 30 of motor sport’s brightest young prospects to showcase their talents in front of F1 teams at some of the most challenging and renowned circuits in the world, as well as gaining much coveted F1 exposure.
After Free Practice and Qualifying on Friday, Saturday’s opening Sprint Race is of 40 mins plus one lap with top 12 reversed from Friday’s qualifying session. Points are awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the top ten finishers. Sunday’s Feature race takes place ahead of the Grand Prix and consists of 45 minutes plus one lap with the winner earning 25 points, second taking 18, third getting 15 and then scaling downward 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point for the driver finishing tenth. The Feature Race pole sitter also gains two points and an additional fastest lap point is available in both of the weekend’s showdowns.
TWO TOP TEN FINISHES FOR LOUIS SHARP ON IMPRESSIVE F3 MONACO DEBUT
Talented Kiwi teenager scores championship points in both F3 races
Childhood dream comes true racing on famous harbourside circuit
Rodin racer proves overtaking is possible on the streets of Monte Carlo
Photos: James Gasperotti Photography