Having already proven his potential with back-to-back British F4 and GB3 titles, the 18-year-old Kiwi had high expectations as he moved another step closer to Formula 1. While early rounds in Australia and Bahrain were hampered by circumstances often beyond his control, Imola marked a turning point in his campaign.
Racing for Rodin Motorsport – the same team that guided him to two previous championship wins – Sharp excelled on the challenging, old-school Italian circuit, despite never having raced there before. Undeterred by its narrow layout and unforgiving corners, he qualified an impressive fifth among a 30-strong field of the world's top young talents – his best showing in F3 so far.
Due to the reverse-grid format for Saturday's Sprint Race, Sharp lined up eighth. A strong start and a series of bold overtakes saw him climb four places to finish a superb fourth – narrowly missing out on the podium and securing his first F3 championship points.
"I had a really good qualifying on Friday and backed that up with a strong Sprint race on Saturday – gaining four positions and finishing a close fourth," said Sharp. "Our race pace was quite strong and it showed in what we achieved."
On Sunday, he started fifth in the longer Feature Race and again made an excellent getaway, moving up to fourth in the opening lap. A podium finish looked possible, but as the race wore on, tyre degradation began to take its toll. Despite his efforts, Sharp fell back and finished just outside the points.
"The tyre degradation was far worse than it had been on Saturday," he explained. "We made some small chassis adjustments between the races to try and improve the pace and target a podium, but they clearly weren't a step in the right direction, which was frustrating."
Despite that setback, Sharp remains upbeat.
"Overall, it was a positive weekend," he said. "There's still more to come and we really need to be finishing every race in the points, but after the first two race weekends, it was good to be qualifying well and racing among the frontrunners."
With his first points on the board and momentum building, Sharp is now turning his focus to one of the most iconic venues in motorsport: Monaco.
"To be fair, the pace has always been there, but the luck hasn't. So putting together a strong qualifying and a strong Sprint race gives me extra confidence heading into the next few races."
Monaco is the second stop in a European triple-header for F3 drivers, followed by Barcelona the next week. The legendary harbourside street circuit presents a brand-new challenge for Sharp.
"It's nice to take some momentum into Monaco, but it's going to be an all-new experience for me – I've never raced on a true street circuit before," he admitted. "I'm feeling confident, though. It's a track where a driver can make a difference. That said, the experienced drivers will have an advantage, and being a rookie will definitely be tough. I'll need to stay focused, do a good job in qualifying, and hopefully the rest of the weekend takes care of itself."
Due to Monaco's unique format, the F3 event spans four days. A brief 45-minute practice session opens the weekend on Thursday (13:10–13:55), followed by a split-group qualifying on Friday morning (11:05–11:21 and 11:29–11:45). The Sprint Race (23 laps or 40 minutes + 1 lap) begins on Saturday at 09:30, with the Feature Race (27 laps or 45 minutes + 1 lap) taking place on Sunday at 08:00, just before the Monaco Grand Prix.
