Kiwi rising star Louis Sharp claimed his first points of the 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship after an impressive charge through the field during the Sprint Race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The PREMA Racing driver endured a challenging start to Round 3 but showed strong race pace throughout the weekend to secure a ninth-place finish in Saturday’s Sprint Race before battling through a difficult Feature Race on Sunday.
Sharp opened the weekend by finishing 17th in the sole practice session. His best lap of 1:29.590 left him just over one second adrift of pace-setter Théophile Nael as teams worked through their preparations for qualifying.
The New Zealander found additional speed when it mattered later in the day, lowering his benchmark to a 1:28.999 during qualifying. The improvement secured 17th on the grid for both races, with Sharp finishing 0.736 seconds behind Nael, who again topped the timesheets.
With Formula 3’s reverse-grid format placing the top 12 qualifiers in reverse order for the Sprint Race, Gerrard Xie and PREMA teammate James Wharton lined up on the front row while Sharp started further back in the pack.
As the lights went out, Xie held the lead into Turn 1 while Freddie Slater quickly displaced Wharton for second position by Turn 3. Further behind, Sharp immediately began making progress, carving his way through the midfield and gaining five positions within the opening two laps to move into 12th.
His charge continued as the race settled into rhythm. A puncture forced Mattia Colnaghi into retirement on lap four, promoting Sharp to 11th position.
At the front, Wharton reclaimed the initiative on lap five, producing a decisive move on Xie to take control of the race. Slater remained firmly in contention in third, ahead of Tuukka Taponen and Bruno del Pino.
The first interruption came on lap seven when Ernesto Rivera stopped with a mechanical problem, triggering a Virtual Safety Car before the full Safety Car was deployed to allow recovery of the stranded car.
Racing resumed on lap 11 with Wharton leading the field away. Another caution period followed two laps later when Ugo Ugochukwu spun into the gravel while contesting eighth position, bringing the Safety Car back onto the circuit.
When the race restarted on lap 16, Sharp had climbed into the top ten and remained firmly in the fight for points. The PREMA driver continued his forward progress during the closing laps, gaining another position before the chequered flag to finish ninth.
The result marked Sharp’s first points-scoring finish of the Formula 3 season and capped an excellent recovery drive through the field. Ahead of him, teammate Wharton converted his strong pace into victory, leading home Slater and Xie.
Sunday’s Feature Race presented a tougher challenge.
Starting 16th on the grid, Sharp lined up in the middle of a tightly packed field behind front-row starters Nael and Ugochukwu. Nael made a perfect launch from pole and immediately established control of the race into the opening corner.
The early stages saw Woohyun Shin and Yevan David come together, with both drivers forced to pit on lap three. David sustained a puncture and front-wing damage in the incident, while debris from the contact prompted a brief Virtual Safety Car period.
Following the restart, Sharp found himself shuffled backwards in the congested midfield battle, dropping several positions to 19th. Despite the setback, he remained out of trouble and continued to circulate consistently throughout the remainder of the race.
Unable to recover the lost ground, the Kiwi ultimately crossed the finish line in 19th place after a clean but difficult afternoon.
At the front, Nael was untouchable, leading every lap to secure victory and complete a dominant weekend in Spain.
Although Sunday’s race did not deliver the result Sharp was hoping for, the Sprint Race points finish provided a welcome breakthrough for both the New Zealander and PREMA Racing as they continue their development together during Sharp’s rookie Formula 3 campaign.
The championship now heads to Austria’s iconic Red Bull Ring in Spielberg in two weeks’ time, where Sharp will be aiming to build on the momentum of his first points finish and add to his tally in Round 4 of the season.
Header Image: Formula 3/PREMA
