Albert Park warmly welcomed James Wharton in his full-time FIA Formula 3 debut. “I had never experienced something like this before,” said Wharton. “Throughout the lead-up to the Grand Prix, Australian fans showed me so much support, and I’m so grateful for that. I finally had the chance to learn what it means to actually feel at home during a race weekend.”
Unfortunately for James, on-track action wasn’t as welcoming, starting from the final minutes of the Free Practice session. Wharton was improving his lap time when a car stopped at the side of the track, triggering a yellow flag that soon turned into a red flag and prematurely ending the session.
Qualifying mirrored the Free Practice session, with James finishing in 22nd position. Once again, the session ended early due to a red flag, preventing the ART Grand Prix driver from putting together a competitive lap.
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Thanks to a strong start, James gained four positions on the opening lap of the Sprint Race, finally displaying promising pace. However, following a restart from a Virtual Safety Car, his debut race in Australia came to a premature end when he came together with Rafael Camara during an overtaking attempt.
This incident’s consequences carried over into the Feature Race, as James was handed a five-place grid penalty, forcing him to start from P26.
The race began with four laps behind the Safety Car due to standing water, before transitioning to a rolling start.
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Early in the race, James quickly found his rhythm on the wet track, immediately gaining a position. However, his progress was briefly halted by a neutralization following an incident at Turn 9, allowing him to move up two more places to P24.
Once the race resumed, Wharton continued to climb the order while maintaining a clean and composed drive, staying out of trouble despite the challenging weather conditions. As he settled into a competitive pace, the rain intensified, leading to another incident ahead that triggered a second and final Safety Car. The stewards ultimately decided to call the race early with another red flag for safety reasons, with James Wharton finishing in P21.
©Dutch Photo Agency
“It was a tough first weekend of the season. We had high expectations, but the pace wasn’t there from the start. Free Practice didn’t go as planned, making qualifying difficult, and starting from the back led to a challenging Sprint Race, where we got caught in an incident. The Feature Race was even tougher due to the wet conditions. Despite the struggles, we made good progress and head to Bahrain testing with valuable insights. Hopefully, we can put everything together for a stronger start and a cleaner weekend in the next race", said Wharton at the end of the Australian Grand Prix.
The next event will take place at the Bahrain International Circuit during the Formula 3 Official Test, scheduled from March 26th to 28th.