Sharp’s F1 dream alive with British F4 crown
New Zealand has another rising motorsport star in Louis Sharp, who recently won the FIA F4 British Championship.
Sharp clinched the series in the last race of a hard-fought season. He follows in the footsteps of McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris, who also won the championship.
“It was pretty close heading into the final weekend,” Sharp told the Weekend Herald. “I wasn’t too nervous but was aware we had to have a good weekend.
“We’ve had the pace and I knew we were fast, having tested there [at Brands Hatch] earlier in the season, and I knew if we put it all together, we would be okay.
“Will Macintyre has been fast all season and I was leading him by just one point going into the weekend.
“The final race of the weekend was quite stressful with Will behind and it was great to finally see the chequered flag.”
Rodin Cars owner David Dicker saw Sharp as a talent when he was just 14 years old and decided to back him as a future Formula One contender. Dicker became a majority shareholder in Carlin (who contest F2, F3, GB3 and British F4) and decided to send him to England in 2022 to contest the FIA F4 British Championship.
Sharp missed the first three races because he was too young at 14 but he went on to finish fourth in the championship. He scored a podium in his first race and then won at his third race weekend.
“Missing the first few races was hard and I was new to it all. Not doing the whole championship was also difficult and I was never going to be able to fight for the title.
“This year, after having almost a season under my belt, has helped me improve lots. Being able to fight at the front has helped me deal with the pressure and fight for a championship.”
With Rodin Carling contesting all the formulas leading to F1 (F3 and F2), Sharp is ideally placed to stay with the team. By winning the British F4 title, he’s positioned himself well to continue his journey towards the ultimate goal of racing in F1.
As well as winning the British F4 title, he boosted his chances of moving up a category by racing in Abu Dhabi as a support to F1 against the best F4 drivers in the world.
Sharp said standing on the podium after winning both races and hearing the national anthem afterwards was a career highlight.
“Winning this championship is going to benefit my career, and seeing what has happened to others in the past following their success in British F4, I hope this will help open some doors.
“I honestly don’t know what I’ll be doing next year yet and we’re talking about a few things. Things are highly dependent on budgets and there are a lot of championships to choose from.
“You have to decide what’s best for you and what the budget can achieve. I have a really good relationship with Carlin and I’d like to continue that partnership, but in what championship, I don’t know yet.”
An added bonus to winning the title will see Sharp experience an F1 simulator at the Mercedes’ F1 campus in Brackley, England, and spend a Grand Prix weekend embedded with McLaren Racing in 2024, along with a year-long coaching programme and expert guidance from the Alpine Formula One team.