Louis Sharp has once again moved forward in the FIA Formula 3 feature race in Monaco, coming away with a twelfth-place finish and more experience under his belt.
Starting the race in sixteenth, the Kiwi quickly moved forward as Tuukka Taponen once again found himself in drama, getting together with Maciej Gładysz, which caused both drivers to retire. This brought out a brief safety car, with the race getting back underway on lap four.
Sharp found himself in twelfth by this stage, stuck in a row of drivers from second to twelfth. The tight nature of the Monaco circuit meant that although the Kiwi was close to the car ahead, he struggled to pass as the track did not provide many opportunities.
By lap 10, Brando Badoer led by over a second ahead of Theo Nael and Freddie Slater. The gap between Sharp and Kato, the driver ahead, closed up to around three tenths of a second by lap fifteen, but Sharp remained in twelfth place.
Michael Shin and Fernando Barichello collided on lap eighteen, leaving Barichello forced to retire while Shin fell back to last.
Sharp started to get agonisingly close to Kato on lap 23, where the gap reduced to almost two tenths at points. At the front, Badoer and Nael started to pull away from Slater, with the Brit over ten seconds behind Nael by lap 25.
A yellow flag was brought out on the final lap after a collision further down the order, meaning the race was essentially over midway through the lap. Badoer brought the field home to take his first FIA Formula 3 victory ahead of Nael, with Slater bringing home third place for his efforts.
A racy Sharp was unfortunate to be trapped in the middle of the pack, meaning he was unable to capitalise on his pace. Nonetheless, it was a positive weekend for the young Kiwi driver, who kept it clean and left on a good note.
FIA Formula 3 now heads to Barcelona, with their weekend kicking off on the 12th of June.
