Interview
Mitas praises ‘class act’ Wharton after Barcelona Sprint Race victory
PREMA Racing Team Principal Stephen Mitas has praised the “outstanding” performance of James Wharton after his Barcelona Sprint Race victory.
The Australian driver dropped down to third at the start after lining up in P2, but two overtakes on Freddie Slater and Gerrard Xie put him in the lead early on.
Wharton then held his rivals at bay, while also managing two Safety Car restarts, earning PREMA their first win since Spa-Francorchamps in 2024.
Speaking in the paddock afterwards, Mitas was complimentary of his driver’s performance.
“We're very excited,” he said. “We've been working hard. Obviously, it's been a bit of a transition over the winter, but step by step we're pushing back to where PREMA belongs.
“James was outstanding. He managed the beginning of the race very well, took his opportunities where they were, and then once he was in front he managed the race perfectly. So, we’re very proud of him.”
Mitas continued to praise his driver, especially for his ability to fight and hold off Slater. He says such a scenario gives the team confidence in the package they have for the races.
“James is a class act and today he proved that,” said Mitas. “For sure we knew it was going to be tough with guys like Slater behind, it's always going to be a hard race.
“But James was smart, took his opportunities where they were, managed the front tyres properly, managed the Safety Car situations and delivered for the team. We're very proud of him.
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“We know we have a competitive package in the race. We still need to do some work on our Fridays, and we'll be focusing on that moving forward to make sure that we can qualify the cars where they belong and basically deliver race results like that.”
It was two PREMA cars in the top 10 with Louis Sharp also scoring points in ninth. Mitas says the Kiwi’s ability to move forward from P16 is a sign of their pace over a long distance.
“It's great,” said Mitas on Sharp’s result. “The problem is if you're underperforming in qualifying, races are always more complicated.
“We were obviously lucky that we qualified in P11, which put us on the front row in the reverse grid, which helped us. We demonstrated quite obviously that the race pace is there.
“James obviously delivered as well. We just need to keep working on how we execute our Fridays, maximise the opportunities for all our drivers in qualifying, and then do the same again on race day – in the Sprint Races and then obviously the Feature Races.”
PREMA have one more chance to score points this weekend with the Feature Race where Wharton will be starting in P11.
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Mitas believes they can move forward with all three cars but acknowledges there could be difficulties for those in the midfield.
“We can move forward,” he added. “But obviously with the way the races play out here in Barcelona with the DRS, once you get in a DRS train, it does get difficult to make progress quickly, but we'll do our best.
“We've got a talented group of drivers, so I'm sure they'll do their best too.”