Melbourne’s James Wharton to make F3 debut at Australian Grand Prix

After honing his craft in Europe an 18-year-old from Melbourne’s northern suburbs is preparing to race on home soil for the first time in seven years at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

James Wharton with his new team at the recent test ahead of the season start. Picture: Dutch Photo Agency

A Melbourne teenager will live every driver’s dream when he makes his Albert Park debut at this week’s Australian Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old from Bundoora has spent the past few years in Europe honing his craft as he begins his path to a future in Formula 1.

The Australian Grand Prix will be the first round of the Formula 3 series – the third tier of racing behind F1.

Fellow Victorian and Formula 1 star Oscar Piastri won the title in 2020 on his way to signing for McLaren and becoming a star in the sport.

“It’s going to be the biggest race of my life to date by far,” Wharton said ahead of this maiden F3 event.

“I’m 25 minutes from home, I have a lot of Australian support as well.

James Wharton tests his new F3 car. Picture: Dutch Photo Agency

“It’s the first time I can show James Wharton in Australia, which is going to be something I’ve wanted in the past couple of seasons.

“I am one of them, I’m Australian.

“I just had to race in Europe to build my career.”

Wharton said it would be his first race on home soil since 2018.

In the past couple of years he’s been racing towards his chance at F3, winning the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship before finishing second in the Euro Formula 4 series (2023) and the Formula Regional Europe Championship (2024) with high-profile racing team Prema.

This year he moves up to F3 with ART Grand Prix and enters the championship in a new era.

He’ll be racing in a new team with new cars as the category changes its regulations for the new season.

This will be his biggest test of his young career.

Wharton recently spent three days in Barcelona testing the car and is confident he’s in a good position heading into the season.

“The car felt super good from day one and the car was in the window,” he said.

“I’m confident going into Melbourne, into the season, ART has one of the quickest cars on the grid.

“I think we have a top three, top four team, which is really good to see.”

Wharton is one of a few Aussies who have recently competed in F3.

New South Welshman Christian Mansell competed for the same team last year, finishing fifth in the series, to give him a chance to compete in F2 this year.

James Wharton will compete at home for the first time in years. Picture: Dutch Photo Agency

New Formula 1 driver Jack Doohan also competed in the series in 2021 and was the last Australian to win in the series, on his way to second in the championship that year.

Wharton said he’d talk to both ahead of his first race in Australia.

“I’ll send a text to Jack and Christian and see how they felt last year or two years before when Jack was in F2 (competing in Melbourne),” he said.

“How they approach the weekend, how they felt they need to do better.

“I’ll just speak to them about what they could have done better and take everything on board.

“If I can do a little bit better than what they did, hopefully I’m there as well (F2 and F1 in the future).”

Wharton is also aiming high with Melbourne.

“I have the same chance as anyone else in Melbourne,” he said.

“I’m going in there not with things to prove but with a lot of motivation to do my job.

“For the whole season it is about maximising it.

“I want to finish the year knowing I’ve not left anything unturned and hopefully that’s a championship at the end of the year.

“I’m not coming to F3 to have a rookie season.

“For me I’ve come to F3 to do it when I’m ready (to win).”

But there will be times over the weekend where he embraces being at home with family and friends.

His father has been busy buying tickets to make sure all are in attendance at Albert Park.

“Dad got on it as soon as we had some clue I was going to be in F3,” he said.

“Most of my cousins are younger than (when I last raced in) 2018, so they haven’t seen me race in Australia before.

“It’s going to be cool to see them and watch what I do as a job.

“It’s going to be a hard weekend from the emotional side.

“Four or five years ago I thought I’d never be here.

“So I’ll be there taking it all in.

“I hope it’s the first of many but I’ll try and take in every section.

“But I also just need to maximise the weekend, it’s a long championship for me.

“Winning for me in Melbourne would be the greatest thing for me.”

Wharton starts his week on Friday before two races are held over the weekend.

Originally published as Melbourne’s James Wharton to make F3 debut at Australian Grand Prix