At just 19 years old, the Melbourne-born driver has spent nearly half his life chasing that singular goal across Europe’s most competitive junior categories. And last month, that pursuit hit a major milestone: his first Formula 3 victory, taken with authority at Austria’s Red Bull Ring.
Wharton held off fellow rookie Alessandro Giusti in a tense, incident-filled sprint race, leading all 21 laps from lights to flag despite multiple safety car interruptions.
Not only was it the first win of his short F3 career — it was also his first podium and just his second points finish, all achieved in only his seventh F3 race weekend.
“I obviously was expecting it at some point during the season and I knew it was going to be very difficult but I didn’t realise how difficult,” Wharton told Speedcafe.
“So when it did actually finally happen, yeah, I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out and I couldn’t be more proud of the team.
“We did start in an area where we’re not super happy with and we finally got a win only five weekends into the year which is super down to their hard work, my hard work and dedication to move together and do a good job.
“After that win it’s given me a lot of confidence going into the next part of the year.”
While he admitted to feeling the pressure, the ART driver said it was the most comfortable he’d felt in the car all season.
“I think not many people believe it, but I was probably the most comfortable in that race that I have been the whole season,” he said. “Being in the front is where I feel like I can perform at my best.
“Having Alessandro behind probably helped me because it was someone that I know, someone I’ve driven against in the past, someone that I understand the way they defend or the way they attack.
“So it was quite a lot more comfortable seeing Alessandro in my mirrors than say a second year driver that was experienced in F3, experienced with the DRS.
“As Alessandro is a rookie as well, we both have very similar experiences with the DRS and how to use it and how to manage it.
“It probably helped a lot having a rookie behind me, but at the same time, it was of course super tough keeping the other 28 cars behind as well.”
The victory couldn’t have come at a better time, with his mum arriving in Austria just 10 hours before lights out, her first race weekend since the season-opener in Melbourne.
“I’m super grateful to have my mum around and my dad around for that race,” he said. “My father had been there most of the season, but my mum hadn’t been to a single race since Melbourne.
“For her to be at that one race is something that I hold very close to me because it means a lot to me having both parents there and their support has obviously got me to where I am.”
The timing of her arrival, he admitted, might not have been a coincidence.
“The last two years, I’ve had a little bit of a slow start, Mum’s come, I’ve won a race, and I’ve been good,” he explained.
“So maybe I just need her to come once in the middle of the season and I will be good!”
James Whart-won 🥇
The Australian kept his cool in the Spielberg Sprint for a lights-to-flag victory to secure his first FIA Formula 3 win 🏆#F3 #AustrianGP @Jameswharton_ pic.twitter.com/jblXG3oL5t
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) June 28, 2025
The family’s support runs deep, with Wharton relocating from Australia to Europe at just 10 years old to chase his dream.
Since then, he’s lived, raced and matured abroad, including a formative stint with the Ferrari Driver Academy, where he was based in Maranello during his early teens.
“[The] Ferrari Driver Academy was probably the best thing that’s happened to me,” he said. “Not just on track, but off track.
“I’ve had to grow up quite a lot. I was living alone at 13/14, with other drivers in Maranello.
“It’s definitely helped my career in a massive way and I can’t thank them enough for what they did.
“I’ve been with super historic teams and I take that with a lot of gratitude as well because I really respect that they all have trusted me to be in their teams, in their families.
“At the end of the day we’re all a family at the track so I feel that’s what Ferrari showed me the most is everyone’s there to be a family and to do a job and everyone’s there to work together.”
Wharton’s Austria win also came with a slice of history, becoming the first Australian to win a Formula 3 race since Jack Doohan in 2021. As the only Aussie on the grid this season, it’s a responsibility he wears with pride.
“I feel like that’s the biggest thing for me this year is just showing people that I’m Australian,” he admitted. “I feel like I’ve been in Europe for so long now that sometimes it gets a bit lost and I don’t want that to be ever lost.
“I want that to be a big thing about my career that I am Australian. That I have come from exactly where Oscar [Piastri] was, very similar, areas of the city [in Melbourne].
“So it definitely gives me a lot of motivation to get at the front because I know Oscar has done it. I know it’s definitely possible.”
Piastri, who won both F3 and F2 titles en route to Formula 1, played an active role in Wharton’s early career, something he still values.
“I’ve spoken to Oscar a lot more in the past rather than when I moved into F3,” Wharton said. “I feel he’s a little bit busy with other things, trying to win a world championship!
“But during my first years in F4 [and] even my first years of karting when I went to the team that he was in, Ricky Flynn Motorsport, in my second year, he already gave me a text and he was definitely speaking to me just making sure everything was going well.”
Long before he shared paddocks with future F1 hopefuls, Wharton had already stood among the greats — as a grid kid at the Australian Grand Prix.
“I was a couple of times a grid kid, 2015 and 2017 I’m quite sure, maybe not exactly those times, but yeah, I was a grid kid twice,” he explained. “One of them was beside Danny Ric’s car as well.
View this post on Instagram
That early taste of Formula 1 didn’t start the dream — it reinforced it. Wharton isn’t just thinking about this weekend or this season; he’s working toward a five-year vision that he hopes will take him to the pinnacle of motorsport.
“I’ve taken this so seriously for so long,” Wharton said. “I feel like getting on the flight to Europe when I was 10 years old, that was the time where it’s like, we’re doing this for real and we’re making Formula 1.
“It wasn’t like I was driving at the track, or I was at the track and had a bright idea to make Formula 1.
“I was already committed to becoming a professional racing driver and I knew we’re making a step in my career not to become a professional racing driver but to become a Formula 1 driver.
And while F1 remains the destination, there’s one dream scenario that still holds special weight — returning to Ferrari and becoming the first Australian to race for the Scuderia in F1
“When I was there it was the goal: to be in Ferrari in Formula 1,” Wharton admitted. “It’s not like that goal has gone and it’s not like that can’t happen. I for sure have made huge steps in my career in the last couple of seasons.
“So yeah, I wouldn’t put that behind me. I will go back whenever they need me to come back. Whenever we get that call, I’ll be straight back to Maranello.”
Beyond racing, Wharton has broader ambitions — to build a personal brand with impact and help young Australian athletes chasing dreams abroad.
“I want to have a James Wharton brand, but not just in racing, I want it to be global,” he said. “I want to help people. I want to do something bigger than racing.
“I feel when I was by myself, it was very hard to know who to speak to or have someone around you that is always going to be there by your side, because in racing your best friends can be your biggest enemy.
“Just trying to help people in like a situation where they feel like they’re a bit lost or have them a bit of guidance of where to go or how to approach things.
“Even moving for other sports as well. If a tennis player is moving from Australia to Europe, they can speak to me about how they did it, or they can go on a website that I want to do, or make something that I can go and look at and help them in their journey as well.”
For now, his focus is on finishing the F3 season strong and setting up the right next step for 2026.
“Something I say a lot is trust the process where, right now, I’m just fully trusting what will happen next year,” he explained. “I will do my job now and then we’ll understand what is the best option for next year.
“Where it will take me is the biggest thing. You want to be in a team that wants you. You want to be around people that want you and you want a base around you where you can perform.
“So to find that is the most important thing for me next year.
“We have to see where that is. But at the same time it’s just about me getting into a really comfortable environment and somewhere where I can perform.”
Discussion about this post