The New Zealander has endured a challenging opening half of his second F3 season after switching to Prema, with the 19-year-old admitting his future will depend on results and funding.
Speaking on Motorsport New Zealand’s Inside Line podcast, Sharp said his immediate focus is on finishing the 2026 season strongly to put himself in position for an F2 move.
“Formula 2 is where I want to be. This is my goal,” he said.
“I really need to focus on making sure 2026 finishes off really strong, so I can prove to people that I do have what it takes and I am good enough and I can go out and seek that funding.
“I need to make these next few rounds really count.”
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Sharp entered the season with momentum from his Formula Regional Oceania Trophy campaign on home soil earlier this year.
He finished the championship third, winning the opening race at Hampton Downs before securing four more podiums to finish behind fellow F3 racers Ugo Ugochukwu and Freddie Slater.
Sharp admitted it had been difficult watching both Ugochukwu and Slater fight at the sharp end of the standings, while he had only managed to finish in the points once, with ninth place coming in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix Sprint.
He said he had previously beaten both drivers and believes he has the ability to match them in F3.
“I’ve been teammates with both of them in the past and beaten them both in the past so there is some sense of frustration because I know I’m good enough to be at the front fighting with them,” Sharp said.
“Obviously they’re both doing an amazing job at the moment. Campos and Trident as well have been really strong and they’re doing a really good job.
“So they are the benchmark, they are who I’m working towards and needing to try and try and go after.
“So there is definitely some level of frustration, but as I said it’s just extra motivation.
“I know I’ve got what it takes. I know I’m good enough. There’s just a few things I think as a package we need to overall improve.
“On my side as well I think there’s some stuff I need to do better.”
Sharp identified qualifying as the key area holding him back, with the Kiwi confident his race pace and racecraft are strong enough to fight higher up the order once he can start further forward.
“I think we’ve shown some really strong race pace so far this year,” he said.
“I think in racing we’ve been one of the fastest cars every week, but in terms of qualifying, this is where our biggest focus is on at the moment.
“We haven’t quite been able to maximise things over the one lap, so this is where we need to focus I think.
“Once we are consistently qualifying up the top group, my racecraft and race pace is good enough, so it’s just about trying to try to put it together on Friday.”
Sharp’s season was disrupted at the opening round in Melbourne, where he was involved in a heavy crash with Prema team-mate James Wharton.
He said he is now fully recovered from the back injury sustained in the incident, which saw him suffer three fractured vertebrae, although the time away from training and full activity proved difficult.
“I’m fully recovered, so there’s no issues,” Sharp said.
“I think if anything it made me work even harder and to be even more prepared, because I think having that time off, not being able to drive it made me remember how much I love the sport and how much I missed it.”
Despite the Australian Grand Prix incident, Sharp said his relationship with Wharton remains strong.
Sharp also opened up on the adjustment of moving from Rodin, the team he had raced with since shifting to the United Kingdom, to Italian powerhouse Prema.
He said the transition had been a major change, from the different working environment to travelling regularly to Italy, but stressed the team had been welcoming and the move had not slowed his outright performance.
“It’s definitely been a big adjustment,” he said.
“Prema have been amazing. They’ve been super welcoming to me and really taking me under their wing. It’s been quite a, quite an easy transition.”
Sharp now heads to Silverstone this weekend for the British Grand Prix, a circuit he described as one of his favourites, looking to convert his race pace into a stronger qualifying result.
He said the track’s high-speed nature and limited overtaking opportunities meant qualifying would again be crucial, with Friday’s session likely to shape the weekend.
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