F3’s newest race winner: James Wharton’s Spielberg Debrief

Things finally fell into place for ART Grand Prix’s James Wharton as the Australian took to the top step in FIA Formula 3 for the first time in Spielberg.

Hear from the Sprint Race victor as he assessed his weekend and gives his thoughts going into Round 7 at Silverstone, a venue he already has F3 experience around from last season.

PROGRESS

“Overall was quite a positive weekend. Again, we made some good steps. Started off well in FP and then had another solid quali, not completely where we wanted to be, but still, top 12 for the first time this year. Still a lot of work to do on the one lap speed, but we were quite happy with the step we made.”

RACE WINNER

“Starting from pole for the Sprint Race – it was a really solid race, good defence, and then finally came home with a win and that takes some pressure off for the rest of the season. But at the same time, it gave me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the year that I can win races out at the front.

“It's good to be back fighting in front, especially against someone that you know, it makes it a lot more comfortable knowing the competition that's next to you. To be able to fight with Alessandro around this track again is quite cool, considering it happened last in FRECA.

“Leading a race is a lot easier than fighting in the midfield because you can control the pace and go as fast as you want, so it's really good to be back at the front, and hopefully it's not the last time.

“Still work to do in qualifying, and we saw in the Feature Race from P12 on old tyres, it was very, very difficult to go forward, but as a team, we're working to get better and working hard to go forward.”

READ MORE: SPIELBERG ANALYSIS: How experience shone through in the Feature Race

UP NEXT: SILVERSTONE

“Now all the focus is on Silverstone, certainly, a track that I know and a track that I've actually been on in F3 before, so can't wait to improve on last year and keep moving forward in Qualifying to have a really strong result in the race. And it's one of the best tracks in the world. I can't wait to get there.”