Louis Sharp

Louis Sharp (born 11 May 2007) is a racing driver from New Zealand competing in and won the 2023 F4 British Championship for Rodin Carlin.
==Career==
===Karting===
Sharp started karting in 2014, driving in the Kartsport NZ National Schools Championship, he finished 18th in the Cadet class, the next year he finished third in the same class, two years later he won the championship in the same class, along with the Sievwright Kartsport NZ National Sprint Championship, in the Cadet class as well. In 2018, he came runner up in the Kartsport NZ National Sprint Championship in the Mini ROK class, the following year he won the championship.
===Lower formulae===
Sharp stepped up into single-seater racing in 2020, making his debut in the Formula First Manfeild Winter Series, he won one race and got six podiums, finishing the championship in fifth, with 375 points. He also completed in the New Zealand Formula First Championship for Track Tec Racing, as he finished the championship fifth, ending his campaign with one podium.
The next year, Sharp drove in the Formula Ford New Zealand South Island Series, getting five wins, ten podiums and two poles, finishing fifth in the championship.
===Formula 4===
Sharp stepped up to the 2022 F4 British Championship with Carlin, partnering McLaren Junior Driver Ugo Ugochukwu and Williams Junior Driver Oliver Gray. Sharp did not participate in the first race of the season at Donington Park due to still being 14 years old, and age limit of most Formula 4 series being 15. In his first two rounds he got two podiums, one in the third race at Brands Hatch, and another in the third race at Thruxton Circuit. He got podiums in all three races at Oulton Park, as he got his first win in the series in the third race. At the fourth round at Croft Circuit he came second place in the third race, bagging another podium for his Formula 4 campaign. He was on a consistent points streak in Knockhill Circuit and Snetterton Circuit until in third race at Snetterton his streak ended, when he made contact with Aiden Neate, while fighting for a top ten position.
Sharp added two more third places to his podium tally, as he came third in the first and third races at Thruxton Circuit, in Silverstone Circuit Sharp got his second win of the season in the first race, after the original race winner Oliver Gray was penalised. Sharp came third in the reverse-grid race, but in the third race he stalled on the grid and retired from the race.
The first race in the final round at Brands Hatch did not go well, as while he was battling his teammate Ugo Ugochukwu for 4th position, his car began to smoke as the Kiwi jumped out of the car before it caught fire. He had more luck at the rest of the round, coming 3rd and 2nd in the final races of the season. He came 4th in the championship, behind his teammates, Ugo Ugochukwu and Oliver Gray, and narrowly pipped Joseph Loake to 4th in the championship with 272 points, one point ahead of Loake in the final standings.
Sharp made his debut in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship for the Trophy Rounds only, which took place in late 2022 and severed as a support race for the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sharp drove with Carlin and won both races in an 11 car grid.
He rejoined the newly rebranded Rodin Carlin for the 2023 F4 British Championship in hopes of winning the title, and was teammates with Australian Noah Lisle and Brit Josh Irfan. Sharp started the season by taking victory in the first two races in the opening round at Donington Park. After a season-long fight with William Macintyre, in which he took four more wins, he eventually became British F4 Champion. As the British F4 Champion Sharp also won an experience in the Simulator of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.
===FIA Formula 3===
Sharp joined Rodin Carlin for the final post-season test of the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship at Imola Circuit.
==Personal life==
Sharp was born in the United Kingdom but spent most of his childhood in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he attended St Bede's College. He then moved back to the UK to compete in the F4 British Championship.
==Karting record==
===Karting career summary===
Season	Series 	Team 	Position
2014 	Kartsport NZ National Schools Championship – Cadet class 	 	18th
2015 	Kartsport NZ National Sprint Championship – Cadet class 	 	4th
2015 	Kartsport NZ National Schools Championship – Cadet class 	 	3rd
2016 	Giltrap Group Kartsport NZ Sprint Championship – Cadet class 	 	12th
2016 	Kartsport NZ National Schools Championship – Cadet class 	 	4th
2017 	Sievwright Kartsport NZ National Sprint Championship – Cadet class 	 	1st
2017 	NZ Top Half Series – Cadet class 	 	
2017 	Kartsport Auckland City of Sails – Cadet Rok class 	 	4th
2017 	Kartsport NZ National Schools Championship – Cadet class 	 	1st
2018 	Kartsport NZ National Sprint Championship – Mini ROK class 	 	2nd'
2018 	Kartsport NZ National Schools Championship presented by Napier Boys High School – Vortex Mini Rok	 	9th
2019 	Kartsport NZ National Sprint Championship – Mini ROK class 	 	1st
2019 	ROK Cup Superfinal – Mini ROK 	Av Racing	
2019 	Kartsport NZ National Schools Championship – Vortex Mini Rok 	 	11th
==Racing record==
===Racing career summary===
Season 	Series 	Team 	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2020 	Formula First Manfeild Winter Series 	 	6 	1 	0 	0 	6 	375 	5th
2020-21	NZ Formula First Championship 	Track Tec Racing	23 	0 	0 	2 	1 	993 	6th
2021-22	Formula Ford New Zealand South Island Series	 	11 	5 	2 	5 	10 	747 	5th
2022 	F4 British Championship 	Carlin 	27 	2 	0 	1 	12 	272 	4th
2022 	Formula 4 UAE Championship – Trophy Round 	Carlin 	2 	2 	0 	2 	2 	N/A 	N/A
2023 	F4 British Championship 	Rodin Carlin 	30 	6 	4 	4 	14 	384 	1st
===Complete F4 British Championship results===
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year	Team 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7 	8 	9 	10 	11 	12 	13 	14 	15 	16 	17 	18 	19 	20 	21 	22 	23 	24 	25 	26 	27 	28 	29 	30 	31 	DC 	Points
2022	Carlin 	DON1	DON2	DON3	BHI1	BHI2	BHI3	THR11	THR12	THR13	OUL1	OUL2	OUL3	CRO1	CRO2	CRO3	KNO1	KNO2	KNO3	SNE1	SNE2	SNE3	HR21	THR22	THR23	SIL1 	SIL2 	SIL3 	BHGP1	BHGP2	BHGP3	 	4th	272
2023	Rodin Carlin	DPN1	DPN2	DPN3	BHI1	BHI2	BHI3	SNE1 	SNE2 	SNE3 	THR1	THR2	THR3	OUL1	OUL2	OUL3	SIL1	SIL2	SIL3	CRO1	CRO2	CRO3	KNO1	KNO2 	KNO3 	DPGP1	DPGP2	DPGP3	DPGP4	BHGP1	BHGP2	BHGP3	1st	384
Category:2007 births
Category:Living people
Category:New Zealand racing drivers
Category:Sportspeople from Christchurch
Category:Carlin racing drivers
Category:People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch