Rising New Zealand motorsport star rewrites record books

Rising New Zealand motorsport star Louie Sharp is believed to have set a new Formula 3 record in the Hungarian Grand Prix support races.

Sharp, who drives for Rodin Motorsport is in his first season of FIA F3, is the defending GB3 champion, having also won the British F4 title in 2023 - something Lando Norris also achieved in his junior career.

The 18-year-old, who was born in the UK and moved to New Zealand as a child, started 28th in the wet feature race on Sunday morning, but carved through the field to finish 11th. It is believed this is the greatest number of positions ever gained in an F3 race.

Those 17 places gained in the feature race were after Sharp gained 12 places in the safety car-affected Sprint on Saturday to finish 16th, meaning he made a total of 29 overtakes across the weekend. 

After car problems at Spa, the team have identified an engine problem costing straight-line speed, meaning he was down in 28th in qualifying. 

Sharp has a best finish of fourth in the Imola Sprint, and was sure that the performances showed he was a better driver than his qualifying result showed.

"We really had no pace once again in qualifying – I’m not a P28 driver,” he said. 

"It seems to be the same old issues, and we’re struggling to understand what they are. Every weekend, it seems to be getting worse, and we’re getting slower and slower.

"I started the season at the front, and we’ve just kept slipping backwards as others have moved forward – it’s very, very frustrating.

“We bounced back really well, the fact that I was able to make up so many positions in both the dry and the wet shows that even when we’re struggling with the car, I can still move forward and race well.

"It was really enjoyable. I was able to make some really cool overtakes - the pass on [Mercedes F1 junior Noah] Stromsted was probably one of my best ever, and then the Feature Race in the wet was even more fun, carving through the pack."