GB3 champion Louis Sharp will become the youngest-ever driver to compete at the Race of Champions when he takes part in the 2025 competition in Sydney next month.
Former F1 drivers such as four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, ex-Haas driver Mick Schumacher and decade-long veteran Valtteri Bottas are all scheduled to take part in the event at Accor Stadium on 7-8 March.
And New Zealand racer Sharp will become the first 17-year-old to compete in the prestigious event. Lando Norris was the previous youngest record-holder, when he competed in 2018 at the age of 18.
Sharp won the British F4 championship in 2023 and backed that up by claiming victory in GB3 last year. Sharp will compete in Formula 3 this year, making his debut at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 14-16 March.
“It’s an incredible honour to have been invited to join such an amazing list of true motorsport heroes in this year’s Race of Champions,” said Sharp.
“It’s crazy to think I was born in the same year Sebastian Vettel won his first ROC Nations Cup title, and I now get to race against the very icons grew up admiring.”
In the Race of Champions, pairs from around the world compete against each other, as well as head-to-head for the individual title. Sharp will compete alongside rally champion Hayden Paddon for New Zealand.
“I don’t want to put any additional pressure on Louis but this young man seems spectacularly quick and mature for his age,” said Race of Champions president Fredrik Johnsson.
“Every now and again a young talent comes along that deserves your attention; Louis certainly falls into that category and we are delighted to be able to invite him to our first Race Of Champions in the Southern Hemisphere.
“It will be a perfect opportunity for him to meet some of his childhood heroes like Sebastian Vettel and for the world to discover this future star.
“Louis has been nominated by critics as an F1 star of the future and I have little doubt that in a few years’ time we will be saying ‘I saw that kid for the first time at the Race Of Champions at Accor Stadium in Sydney’.”
