James Wharton takes maiden FIA Formula 3 victory in Austria sprint
The Australian rookie took his first win of the season in a stunning lights-to-flag display.
SPIELBERG–James Wharton took his first victory in the FIA Formula 3 championship in the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Australian led from pole position and managed the field through safety car interruptions to take a comfortable win ahead of Alessandro Giusti and Ugo Ugochukwu.
"It feels incredible. Something that I've been dreaming of for quite a while," said the ART Grand Prix driver.
"Went into the season thinking this is going to happen a bit earlier, to be honest, maybe a bit too confident, but I got a good couple of races last couple of weekends, and to finally top off, what I really wanted coming into the season, showing the pace I have, as well as showing the race craft I have, which I think I showed in the sprint race."
"I can't thank the team enough for the work we've been doing over the last couple of months. The triple header really put us on the right foot, and it was actually good to have a break after triple header to be able to come back stronger, and I think we're making the right steps, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year now."
Wharton made a strong getaway and was soon under pressure from Alessandro Giusti, who had started alongside him in second for the reverse-grid sprint race.
The Australian worked to build a gap in the opening laps as the action unfolded behind him, with a bundle of cars colliding on lap two and ending the races of Christian Ho, Tuuka Taponen, and Kiwi Louis Sharp.
With two of the cars stranded on track, the safety car neutralised the race, with Wharton holding his own at the restart, ahead of Giusti and Charlie Wurz.
Giusti kept within half a second of Wharton, but the Aussie had enough life left in his tyres to defend.
"Alessandro is very good on this track, as we discovered last year in FRECA, [when we] had one-two last year," said the ART Grand Prix driver.
"I've known P2 and P3 for a very long time, so it's good to be able to race people you know and understand where their strengths are.
"But I'm just super happy that the car was fast enough to keep him behind. [For] a couple laps there looked like I was going get overtaken, but I put the car in the right position, and at the end of the day, I think I was saving tyres quite well at the start to be able to push. So, it was quite easy in the end."
The race was soon neutralised again as Brando Badoer dived to the inside of McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu for fourth but went way too deep, collecting Wurz from third and promoting Ugochukwu to the final podium position.
The race did restart again for a final three lap dash to the finish, but Wharton held off his rivals with a 1.1 second lead at the chequered flag ahead of Giusti and Ugochukwu.
It is a massive turn of fortune for the Australian, who scored his first points in the series last time out in Barcelona.
"I don't think it comes up to just mystery," said Wharton.
"We've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes, and if you do the work, nine times of out ten, it's going to pay off. And I feel like that's the biggest thing. I had the confidence going into the weekend because I know the work we're doing behind the scenes."
"I'd spent nearly six days in a row on the simulator, trying to prepare for these next couple of races, and I spent a lot of time with the team just focusing on what we can do better, what I can do better, on driving as well.
"[My teammate] Tuukka [Taponen] has been super quick this season, so it's been super good data for me to be able to move forward in my talent as well.
"So, at the end of the day, a win always proves to yourself that you can do it. That's the biggest thing in this sport, just having confidence. For me, I knew the work I've been doing was going to pay off at some point, and finally it has."
Rafael Câmara comes out of the sprint retaining his lead of the championship on 106 points after finishing 10th, but his lead to Nikola Tsolov drops to just 20 points after the Bulgarian came home in fourth place.
Tim Tramnitz is third on 74 points, with Noah Strømsted fourth on 56 points, and Alessandro Giusti's podium taking him into the top five on 54 points.
Aussie James Wharton's win takes him to 18th in the standings on 13 points.
The FIA Formula 3 field returns to the Red Bull Ring for the feature race at 4.30pm on Sunday (AEST).
