Preparation, continuity and harmony: The keys behind Rodin Motorsport’s F3 resurgence

It has been a hugely positive start to the 2025 campaign for Rodin Motorsport, with two podium finishes in two rounds already.

Rookie Roman Bilinski opened the New Zealand team’s account in Melbourne with P3 in the Sprint Race, while the returning Callum Voisin finished second in the Sakhir Feature Race.

Three further scoring results have put Rodin fourth in the Teams’ Standings, just five adrift of second placed MP Motorsport, and there’s no denying the positivity within the team according to Team Manager, Sam Waple.

“I think that we can describe 2025 as a good start,” he said reflecting on the opening to the season. “We can be satisfied, but probably not content. We were hoping to go well this year, it's a fresh start with a new car, but we always strive for more, but it's a good way to start.

“We want to keep that momentum building, though. We worked very hard over the winter, the guys did a really good job, and it's paying them back as we've gone racing.

“It's just been a lot of building blocks that we've managed to put together and a few factors from lots of areas combining have helped us start 2025 off strongly.”

Part of their uptick in form has coincided with the introduction of the new car, resetting the teams and ensuring everyone starts from the same point. However, Waple says this made it tricky for them to know where they stood compared to their rivals.

“You could see all the teams were working through their own programmes in a much more unique way than in previous years,” he explained. “The trend with the old car was similar for most with run plans and how they went about the test, whereas everyone this year had different ideas about how to run their programmes and how to extract the most data and information out of the new car.

“It was hard to know really where everybody was because of the different plans that people were on, but we did come away quite confident that we were in a fairly good window. So, it has been very satisfying to go racing and find out that we were where we thought we would be.”

"We’re more on the front foot this year, and it’s been nice to have that"

The team’s work has meant they’ve enjoyed their best start to an FIA F3 campaign to date. This has increased their confidence and belief, which Waple says has was already high through the winter.

Again, it is a positive for Rodin, with the a “good core” of the team bringing familiarity and know-how of how they operate.

“There's been a nice attitude shift for us going into weekends, knowing that we have a good baseline, and we have great drivers to be able to extract the most from the car.

“It has brought about a nice positive feeling coming into weekends, not being completely on the back foot or nervous. We’re more on the front foot this year, and it’s been nice to have that.

“We've kept a good core of the team as well. So, all the building blocks are there to go and have good results. And it's just nice that, after all the hard work that we can show that there is good pace in the car and in the team.”

That familiarity also translates to the driver line-up of Rodin in 2025. Voisin, Bilinski and Louis Sharp have each shown glimpses of what they can do in an F3 car this season. But it’s their previous experiences with Rodin in other categories that has counted for a lot says Waple.

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“Each of them has driven in junior categories with the team in the past - Roman in F4, Callum through GB3, and Louis in both Championships. So that has brought a family vibe, and they very much bring that positive atmosphere to the team.

“I've got to say it's a really wonderful environment with the three drivers we've got. They seem to get on very well, they see each other outside the track a lot as well, and I think that that really comes across during a weekend where they all want to work together to push the team forward.

“It's an atmosphere that is quite rare actually. I think to be able to have such good working relationships between the drivers - they have all been very impressive, I've got to say.”

Waple says that the team has achieved a great balance in terms of experience and familiarity with their trio in 2025.

Each knows how Rodin works and the team knowing what each driver values from the car. It has cut down adaptation time and resulted in a situation the Rodin Team Manager is eager to reproduce in the future.

"They've been a pleasure to work with...it's something that I want to try and replicate going forward"

“The combination of the second-year driver in Callum, bringing that bit of experience and a bit of knowledge of the Championship, and being able to express that to the two new guys alongside their raw speed and talent, has been a really good combination for the team, and it's helped move the car on as well for us.

“It's nice to be able to put trust in the fact that you've got really good drivers, great feedback, who are able to help develop the team and the car around going faster. They've been a pleasure to work with.

“That familiarity absolutely makes things easier. I don't think you can ever really prepare rookies coming up through the junior series for what F3 really is. It's such a competitive Championship. It's on the F1 weekends so is high stakes.

“Callum, he's kept the same mechanic, same engineer, same driver coach, and I think those bits of continuity are really showing through, and it's not something that we've had a lot of in F3 before, so it's something that I want to try and replicate going forward, because it really does help.”

Altogether, it has meant Rodin are approaching race weekends “on the front foot” in 2025, where in the past they might have been hesitant.

“In the past we would go into a weekend, obviously always hopeful for good results, but maybe with a bit of trepidation into what we might actually have. And if it didn't go well in FP, you might feel like you have to throw the kitchen sink at it to try and move things forward.

“Once you're in that it's very hard to get out of it. And I think what we have right now is a good baseline. It’s certainly not perfect and we've got lots of work still to do, but it does mean that you arrive at the weekend in a better place.

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“The drivers are in a better head space, and I think we’re chasing ourselves less than we have done in previous years. So that does change tact a little bit on a weekend, and it does help how you operate as a team.”

Their confidence and expectations raised, the goals are now elevated alongside them, and the target of reaching the top step sooner rather than later is obvious for a team on the up in F3.

“We're confident going Imola that we'll have a good weekend there. Callum was very fast there last year, although he wasn't particularly lucky. Roman’s been there a lot with his FRECA seasons before us, and we’ve shown he can qualify in the top 10.

“In testing, Louis has always been up the front. So really, we're being disappointed we haven't had more than one driver in the top 10 at each of the previous rounds, but we're going there quite confident about good weekend.

“Then hopefully we carry that through to Monaco and Barcelona and keep the momentum going. So, we like it busy, if I'm honest, especially if you're going okay. You just want to get on with it.”