The Formula 3 season resumed this weekend after three days of in-season testing in Bahrain, which allowed drivers to familiarise themselves with both the track and their cars. Speaking to the media, including Pit Debrief, ahead of the Bahrain GP, Rodin Motorsport rookie, Louis Sharp discusses his testing experience and the challenges that he expects to face as the 2025 FIA Formula 3 season progresses.
Sharp expecting an easier time in Bahrain after “tricky” Melbourne Round
When asked about his expectations coming into the 2025 Sahkir F3 Round, Sharp stated that he expected to have an easier time in Bahrain than he had had in Melbourne. Amidst heavy rain, Sharp struggled to perform at the series opener, finishing a lowly P18 in the Sprint Race and P14 in the Feature Race. Sharp explained that, like with many of F3’s new drivers, he had lacked experience around the Albert Park Circuit. This, combined with the dismal conditions, led to a “tricky” weekend.
“It’s definitely easy coming into this weekend, and also we had three days of testing here a week or so ago, whereas Melbourne, I guess for many people, it’s a brand new circuit and I guess the nature of the championship, there’s not a lot of practice and and a lot of laps in practice it’s kind of tough going in.”
Qualifying mistake cost Sharp a chance for points in Melbourne
Despite acknowledging the challenges of the Melbourne Round, however, Sharp believes that the weekend could have been “a lot better” had he had a better qualifying. However, he believes that the team have overcome the issues that resulted in the poor qualifying after their extensive testing in Bahrain.
“Saying that, I think Melbourne was a bit of a tricky weekend, but it could have been a lot better. I think we were quite unlucky with the qualifying. We had really good speed, but I only did one lap, and unfortunately, I made a small mistake.”
“So, bringing that into Bahrain testing, we had a really solid test here last week. I think the team are quite happy. I think we’ve found a decent window with the car.
Good Bahrain in-season testing gives Sharp “good confidence” going into Sakhir Round
While Sharp acknowledged that the teams were all still adapting to the new car and the championship, he believes that he is on better footing after the three days of in-season testing in Bahrain. He explained that this had improved his knowledge of both the car and the track.
“I mean it’s definitely easy coming into this weekend and also we had Fred Aper testing here a week or so ago whereas Melbourne, I guess for many people, is a brand new circuit and I guess the nature of the championship, there’s not a lot of practise and a lot of laps in practise so it’s kind of tough going in saying I think Melbourne was a bit of a tricky weekend but it could have been a lot better.”
“I think we were quite unlucky with the qualifying. We had really good speed but I only did one lap and unfortunately made a small mistake so then kind of bringing that into Bahrain testing, we had a really solid test here last week. I think the team are quite happy, I think we’ve found a decent window with the car.”
“It’s still early days, so I’m adapting, the team are adapting, and we’re all kind of trying to push each other to get stronger, but having a good test here last week definitely provides me with good confidence heading into this weekend.”
“Having known the track, having done three days of testing here, it’s a lot easier for me to go out there and execute, knowing what I’m doing and knowing where I’m going a bit better,” Sharp added.
Testing for the FIA Formula 3 grid gives drivers crucial insights into car performance, tire management, and improvement areas.
Testing the limits in Bahrain
“I think, like I’ve touched on earlier, I think the whole championship in general is the challenge,
“Obviously there’s 30 very quick and very, I guess, eager drivers to make it to the top of the sport,
“So everyone’s putting out 100% max effort and everyone wants to beat each other.” Sharp responds to a Pit Debrief question.
“I think the natural kind of competitiveness of the championship is obviously super tough but I think for me, like I said earlier, just being a rookie about learning the tracks and learning, first of all, how to drive the car. For me, coming from British racing, I’ve never really had to manage tyres because the tyres we run on can do the whole race with full pushing.”
“So I think the tyre management side of things comes in and I think just how you manage the weekend as a whole because there’s a lot going on.It’s a lot different, obviously, being in the Formula 1 package as well. There’s a lot more eyes on you. There’s a lot more going on. “
“I think just how you really manage the weekend as a whole has probably been the biggest thing to adapt to. Not necessarily just purely driving the car. I think it’s kind of everything that goes on around that.”
“F3 is the pathway for the next generation to Formula 1, intensifying competition with each championship round.”
How it feels to be a rookie in F3
For a rookie driver, many components will be involved this weekend, requiring them to learn new skills, and manage different aspects. This contrasts with the experience of someone like Sharp.
“It’s a new car so, whether you’re a rookie, you’re a second or third year driver, or even everyone’s learning, the teams are learning, the drivers are learning so there’s a lot of tests taken especially being a rookie.”
“Again like Tuukka said, the tracks are new so there’s a lot of new stuff especially for me coming from mainly just doing British racing, a lot of the European tracks I don’t know so sorry, a lot of the European tracks I don’t know so there’s a lot to go on I think.”
“For me the biggest learning I’ve probably had from Melbourne is that, especially in qualifying, like every lap counts in this championship, you make one mistake and it could really affect your weekend which is what I discovered in Melbourne with the nature of how qualifying ended up turning out.”
“We only did the first push lap on the first set of tyres and unfortunately because I made a mistake, I could have had a solid weekend being in the top 10 in both races but instead I was struggling a little bit in the mid pack so I think just being on it and making no mistakes is probably the biggest learning I’ve taken away so far.”
It’s a rookies world this weekend
“The natural kind of competitiveness of the championship is obviously super tough but I think for me, like I said earlier, just being a rookie about learning the tracks and learning, first of all, how to drive the car,
“For me, coming from British racing, I’ve never really had to manage tyres because the tyres we run on can do the whole race with full pushing.” Sharp confirms his learnings from testing.
Testing brought a variety of hectic turns and shunts for the grid as they learned where they could push their machinery, and how to speak to it, gaining momentum to pursue enough speed and data.
Over the weekend, Sharp produced promising laps, hanging around mid-pack as he familiarised himself with his new car, its behaviour, and the track conditions.
With the watchful eyes of the dazzling Formula 1 circuit comes immense pressure to perform, which is felt by each driver differently, often the leading cause of hunger to win.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself because I am a competitor, I want to win.”
“I’m not here to take, I’m here to try and win – so I think I naturally put that pressure on myself,
“And obviously, like Tuukka Taponen said, being in the F1 paddock with all the F1 teams, there maybe is a little bit extra pressure,
“But for me, I don’t really care about that.“
A learning curve for the future
Sharp’s voice was firm and confident with what he hopes to set out and do this year, proving his grit and motivation to perform on the track.
“All I care about is doing my job and doing the best job I can,
“So whether there’s lots of pressure, whether there’s no pressure, it doesn’t affect the driving I do and it doesn’t affect the job that I have to do,
“Knowing that if you do go out here and do well, you are in front of the F1 eyes and maybe that could then lead to some different things,
“So yeah, to be here racing in front of F1, it’s definitely a big privilege.”
On days three and two, 21-lap race simulations are run, which provide steady data opportunities and enhance the understanding of both the driver and the car.
“It’s super important to do a full race distance because how the tyre could feel after the safety and the ramps could be completely different to how it feels at the end of the race,
“I think getting a full understanding of what the tyre does and behaves and what you need to change, to let’s say the car or to your driving style throughout the race to adapt to that, is a super important thing.”
Opportunity to grow
The young New Zealander clearly embraced the opportunity to learn, as shown by his mature and insightful answers.
“We didn’t do a single race run in pre-season testing in Barcelona and obviously the first race in Melbourne was the only dry race we got and it was filled with safety cars, and also on the medium tyre,
“For me doing a race run and testing last week on the hard tyre at a high deep track like Bahrain has definitely been super important.“
With testing comes lots of data for a driver to wrap their head around, including new situations. This was especially true for Sharp and his preparation for this weekend.
“I’ve let’s say learned to or figured out a good understanding of what needs to be done so coming into this weekend having obviously two hopefully full races with not a lot of safety cars I think the tyre management is 100% going to come into play,
Benefits of a race simulation
“It’s going to be super important so now knowing that we’re now getting the understanding of what needs to be done it’s going to be super beneficial.”
Pressure has been an ideal topic during the press conference, with testing building upon the pressure of expectation on the shoulders of young junior drivers.
“I’ll be honest, everyone who’s gotten to F3 has to have some sort of decent level of driving,
“I think everyone here is quite competent, they can drive a race car fairly quickly so, the most important thing I think the natural speed is 100% there,
“I’ve proved that in the categories I’ve done before F3 to get to this point,
“So for me it’s just all about execution with how little laps you get with how chaotic like, for example qualifying session could be in Formula 3 the important thing is to really just maximise every single lap you’ve got,
“Because it could be the only lap you’ve got,
More to prove this weekend
“I think purely for me just focus on execution and I think the natural speed side of things,
“Obviously there’s a bit of improvement you can always you can always be better, you can always be faster,
“I think alongside the team we are pushing really hard to make our overall package faster -obviously me and the car as well but the main focus is just on executing.”
Sharp exudes confidence and calmness within his responses, seemingly content and hungry for more track time, all answers resonating to the future race weekend lying ahead.
Adaptability is a standard need for a racing driver, with this past week’s testing becoming definitive of opportunity to showcase how the drivers gel.
“Straight off the bat, there’s definitely on my end a few differences for me, my driving style, and how I approach the lap,
“For example in this car is slightly different a few different techniques,
“Straight off the bat felt quite comfortable in this car, but definitely in the high speed it’s a little bit better how the tyre behaves over a race run, how it degrades it that degrades like a normal running tyre I’d normally expect,
Gelling well at the start of the season
Louis Sharp was sharp to respond when asked about the new Formula 3 car, and what impressed him so far. “I think for me straight off the bat there’s definitely on my end a few differences for me my my driving style and how I approach the lap,” he said.
“For example, in this car is slightly different a few different techniques. Straight off the bat felt quite comfortable in this car, bit different in the high speed, it’s a little bit better. How the tyre behaves over a race run, and how it goes off how it degrades. It degrades like a normal running tyre, as I’d normally expect.”
“But, I’m not for sure I’m really enjoying the car. I think me and the team have got a good a understanding of what the car needs.”
“Obviously, how the car is now compared to let’s say two two three race weekends, time even towards the end of the season could be completely different, because of how new it is and how everyone’s trying stuff and everyone’s developing as much as possible.”
“I think even from weekend to weekend everyone’s still still trying different stuff so yeah so far I’m really happy I think it’s definitely suited my driving style so I mean I’m really enjoying it.”
The Formula 3 Bahrain Sprint Race will begin at 13:15 on Saturday (local time), a time for the drivers to showcase their learnings.
