Despite the final standings not telling the full story, James Wharton showed great potential and solid race pace during the second round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship in Bahrain. After a qualifying session hindered by traffic, the Australian impressed in the Sprint Race with a climb of 11 positions to finish in P13. While his Feature Race was compromised by an early incident, the strong pace he displayed sends promising signals for the season ahead.
Bahrain is always a tough challenge for young F3 drivers. With high temperatures and a dusty, highly abrasive surface, managing tyre performance over a race distance is never easy — but it’s not impossible either.
During the Free Practice session on Friday, James Wharton immediately set out to find the car’s limit, pushing confidently. After spending the first part of the session in the garage, he ended up 16th on the timesheets.
In the first qualifying stint, James made a strong impression, setting the third-fastest time — just 0.369s off the top. Unfortunately, heavy traffic during his second run disrupted his lap, dropping him to P24 in the final standings.
On Saturday, he started the Sprint Race from P24 and got off to a great start, quickly making his way to P19. He engaged in close battles with Ugo Ugochukwu and ART Grand Prix teammate Van Hoepen, gaining another position just before a Safety Car neutralization on lap 4. After the restart, a fight with Domingues temporarily saw him drop to P19, but he recovered quickly.
A bold move around the outside of Turn 1 on Van Hoepen brought him up to P16. Following a collision between Dufek and Domingues, James seized the opportunity to move into P14 just before a second Safety Car was deployed on lap 17. He ultimately crossed the line in P13, completing an impressive 11-position recovery.
The Feature Race was a different story. James made another strong start but he was an innocent victim in an early incident and dropped to P29. Forced to pit for a new front wing, he rejoined the race with a significant gap to the pack. After overtaking Zagazeta, he showed excellent race pace, making up over five seconds in just two laps compared to the cars ahead. A solid rhythm that, without the early contact, could have led to a much stronger result.
“It wasn’t an easy weekend. When you qualify at the back in this category, it’s hard to move forward and you often get caught in the mess. Today was another tough race, but there are positives — our race pace is strong, and we should be fighting at the front. We just need to put it all together in qualifying. Now the focus is on working with the team before Imola, starting the triple header strong, and building momentum. The team’s doing a great job, and we’ll come back stronger.”
The season continues with the third round at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, scheduled for May 16–19.
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