Joseph Loake’s first ever Formula 3 campaign was a bit of a mixed bag. In fact, the 19 years old had an outstanding weekend during the span of an average debut season. He did show encouraging signs towards the final rounds, but it was not enough to warrant a 2025 renewal.
Highlights of his rookie year
The Rodin driver in fact scored during both the Sprint Race and the Feature Race held in Monaco. In the former, Loake managed to avoid the many collisions and safety car. Ultimately, improving from his best starting position of P8 led him to a Top 5 finish.
On Sunday instead he was able to perform one of the very rare overtakes in the principality on Boya. While he suffered from lock up later and had to let the MP driver through, Loake still ended in the points.
The rest of the season was a bit of a learning curve for the fast Brit. Loake had been signed by rebranded Rodin at the beginning of 2024. In fact, he joined the team at the last minute, without no time in the car prior to his Bahrein debut.
Early struggles
However, he was able to quickly get up to speed. In spite of being able to score only at one round, he often had the speed and the performance to justify his signing. The Rodin driver was fast in Australia as well, but unfortunately crashed out during both Qualifying and the Feature Race.
Many times his speed and positive performances were not rewarded with points. This statistic includes the Spa racing weekend. In fact, Loake ended that Sprint Race barely out of the points regardless of the overtakes pulled on talented drivers including Prema’s Lindblad.
What’s next?
Rodin’s Sam Waple thinks highly of the young driver, and has reviewed his 2024 Formula 3 season positively all in all, both as an athlete and as a human being:
“He has had some great flashes of speed, Monaco being the highlight, scoring points, Australia as well. It wasn’t shown but, in the racing, he was really fast. His natural talent has been great, and he has been a real joy to work with in the office, he is a real character, and we’ve loved having him this year.”
While he was hoping for more from his first ever Formula 3 season, Loake might have more success abroad. In fact, the British took part in a USF Pro 2000 testing session with Turn 3 Motorsport after the end of the season, ending in P2. Whether it’ll be in Formula 3 or in the States, the winner of the BRDC Young driver of the year award will definitely get another chance to shine and prove his talent.
