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James Wharton (racing driver)
Australian racing driver (born 2006) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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James Anthony Wharton (born 8 July 2006) is an Australian racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for ART Grand Prix.
Wharton was the runner-up for the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship, driving for Prema Racing. He was a race winner in Italian F4, finishing fourth in 2023. He was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy between 2021 and 2023.
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Career
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Karting
Born in Bundoora in 2006, Wharton began karting at the age of eight in his homeland of Australia. Following two years in Mini and Cadet karting he won eight out of ten races in his 2017 season, winning the Australian Championship in the process. Following that, he and his father moved to Europe to progress his career, where he spent four years contracted to Parolin, competing in various continental championships.[1]
Formula 4
2022
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Starting his single-seater at the beginning of 2022, Wharton would compete in the Formula 4 UAE Championship with Abu Dhabi Racing, a team operated by Prema Racing.[2] The Australian dominated the first Dubai event, scoring three victories, and won the season-ending race at Yas Marina, taking home fifth in the standings.[3]
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He remained with Prema for the European racing season, driving in the Italian F4 and ADAC F4 championships.[4] Just like during the winter, Wharton ended up fifth in both series, having obtained his only victory at the Nürburgring.[5]
2023
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Wharton once again partook in F4 UAE at the beginning of 2023, being part of the Mumbai Falcons.[6] After a consistent campaign, which included four wins and a total of eleven podiums across 15 races, the Australian clinched the title as a result of a last-round collision with title rival and teammate Tuukka Taponen.[7][8]
His European campaign with Prema in the Italian F4 Championship proved to be more challenging, as Wharton would end the year fourth in the standings despite a pair of wins at Spa-Francorchamps.[9][10] He also ended up finishing second in the three-round Euro 4 Championship with two wins and three further podiums, missing out on the title to teammate Ugo Ugochukwu.[11]
Formula Regional
In the 2024 pre-season, Wharton partook in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Mumbai Falcons.[12] He took his first Formula Regional podium in the fourth round at Yas Marina Circuit, finishing second behind Tuukka Taponen.[13] With an additional podium in the penultimate race at Dubai Autodrome, he finished 6th overall in the standings.[14]
For his main campaign, Wharton moved up to the Formula Regional European Championship, once again driving for Prema Racing, alongside former Italian F4 rivals Rafael Câmara and Ugo Ugochukwu.[15] He finished on the podium in the opening race of the season at Hockenheim[16] He started on pole position for the second race, but an incident with Pedro Clerot led to him retiring from the race.[17] Similar misfortune would befall him in Spa and Zandvoort, with a crash in qualifying at the former leading to a DNS in race one followed by another podium in race two, and a pole position at the latter leading to two non-points finishes.[18]
However, his season began to turn around at Mugello, where he took his maiden Formula Regional win in race two.[19] He followed it up with another win at Red Bull Ring, this time from pole position.[20] A perfect weekend in Barcelona, where he won both races from pole position, propelled him to second overall in the standings, behind teammate Câmara.[21]
Wharton also participated in the 2024 Macau Grand Prix with ART Grand Prix.[22] On lap 1 of the main race, Wharton crashed into the barriers at Lisboa, which caused a pileup that took him and several others out of the race.[23]
GB3 Championship
Wharton was signed by Fortec Motorsports to participate in the two Silverstone rounds of the 2024 GB3 Championship.[24]
FIA Formula 3 Championship
2024
After Martinius Stenshorne was banned from the Silverstone round, Wharton was drafted by Hitech Pulse-Eight to make a one-off appearance there in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship.[25]
2025
In October 2024, ART Grand Prix announced that Wharton would be racing for them in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship, alongside Laurens van Hoepen and Ferrari Driver Academy member Tuukka Taponen.[26]
Formula One
At the end of 2020 Wharton was chosen by Motorsport Australia to be one of its representatives for the FDA 2020 Scouting World Finals. He ended up winning the shootout, therefore gaining a place in the Ferrari Driver Academy.[27]
In December 2023, it was announced that Wharton would be leaving the FDA going into the 2024 season.[28]
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Karting record
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Karting career summary
Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
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Racing record
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Racing career summary
* Season still in progress.
Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Italian F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Euro 4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Regional European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GB3 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Macau Grand Prix results
Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
* Season still in progress.
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References
External links
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