The Motorsport Brief - with James Wharton on the F1 pathway 🏎️

Welcome to the Motorsport Brief, one of the Aussies abroad, back home for a huge weekend.

Hi everybody, Greg Russ with you here in the garage studios ahead of the Australian Grand

Prix.

This is a special one of many that we're releasing this week.

James Wharton is a name that you'll hopefully get to hear a lot more of.

He's competing in Formula 3 again this season, has already tried his hand at F2.

That's often seen of course as the final rung on the ladder to Formula 1.

He's been living overseas in Italy, I think, since before the pandemic, but is back down

under for his home race.

In fact, he spent the better part of summer in this part of the world, staying kind of

match fit with some racing across the ditch.

Hello mate, thank you for coming in for a chat today.

Yeah, no, thanks for having me.

I feel like it's a bit of a Jewish chat.

It is, yeah, I agree too.

Hey, you did duck away for a little bit of testing, which was important, but by and large,

you were there for that entire series in New Zealand, Formula Regional.

That was good, wasn't it?

The roll-up of drivers we had there this year, the calibre of competition was good, wasn't it?

Yeah, I think as you said, the competition in 2026 was a lot higher than what I was

expecting going to it.

And I think a lot of other people didn't expect it either.

It was something that not many people have done in the past since we've always gone

to Dubai and we've always been there.

So going and having the opportunity to come to New Zealand for me, it's much closer to

home and I could actually spend a bit more time at home.

So I was a lot happier to do it.

And then having the competition that we did just made it 10 times better.

And for me, it was, I think the best thing that's happened for me right now,

just to get ready for this weekend.

And yeah, the results were good.

We ended up having a win with a team that was first year there.

So I did a really good job with them and couldn't think of them enough

for giving me the opportunity to do it.

You enjoy occasionally a little bit of golf.

I know it's not your priority.

And you were more or less in my backyard at one point.

You got to play at Cape Kidnappers.

What did you think of that joint?

That was top two coolest days I've ever had.

Very favored, favoritism towards my trainer for that one, just because

he planned that whole day up from waking up at five a.m.

driving to Cape Kidnappers, playing the 18 holes, going to a winery

after going to the falls after that.

And I will remember that day for a very long time.

And I was your backyard and I plan on going back very shortly.

But golf is my hobby and the only thing that I enjoy outside of racing.

So it was quite cool to do that.

And on the course side, that was insane.

Does it give you a breather from racing?

Can you sort of shut down maybe when you're trying to talk about stuff

when you're wandering around the course?

Yeah, to be honest, golf is my turn off.

It's the sport that I don't think about racing at all.

And my trainer is not very involved in racing.

So that just makes it 10 times better.

We can just talk about every day life, which is very hard to do

as a racing driver because it's so much a part of my life now.

Yep, F3, the field when you look at the line up this year,

I think the stat is something like a third of that field.

We're racing in what we call Seatsey Frott, across the ditch in New Zealand.

You all seem to get on so well.

I think there's a little bit of jet skiing in there, you and Ugo

and maybe Louis Sharp and so on.

Can you all stay friends or does it get intense again now

that you're back into F3?

To be honest, there's a big group of us that stay friends

no matter what happens on track.

And I feel like that's super healthy and something that we need in our sport.

Every week in week out, we're with the same people, the same drivers.

And if you start having enemies off track, it's just going to make it worse on track.

Like on track, we have good fights and I'll always have good fights

with Ugo and Louis on track and that's never going to change.

But I feel like mature enough just to put it aside.

It's at the end of the day, that's our job and outside of the track is where we have fun.

And I feel like we do a good job of that as well.

Yep, peeling it back a little bit.

Does the love of it come from your dad?

I think it does, doesn't it?

Yeah, a bit of it.

But at the same time, his level of racing is so small to what I've done now

that it's very hard to say that he put me into it or it was more of a drive for myself.

And then just the support from them got me where I am today.

Like without their support, I wouldn't be here.

And that's something that I have to cherish for my whole life.

I wouldn't have been able to go to Europe without them.

H8, was that the first go-kart?

The first go-kart was racing.

I was eight, the first ever go-kart was when I was two years old.

But I wasn't meant to race.

I was a bit too scared of doing it.

So I was like a bit nervous to race at the start.

And then I got lapped in my first ever race that actually participated in.

And then from then on, I'm like, I have to do this forever.

OK, at what point then did it become obsession and kind of like career choice for you?

Can you remember the age?

To be honest, it was around eight years old.

That second race, it was already decided that this was going to be my life

just because I got lapped and I didn't like that feeling.

I don't want to get lapped ever again.

And I feel like we went away for the next month racing into state races

instead of just the club days.

And then the goal was when we come back to the club day at the end of that month

that we're at the front.

And that was our whole goal for that whole month to do as much racing as possible.

And teach you to pretty much teach me to do the winner race at the start,

but more just throw me in the deep end into the interstate races

and came back to my club day the next month and I'm winning.

So it was a huge step forward.

The CV around the karting stuff, I think correct me if I'm wrong here.

There is like a Cadet 12 title.

There is some success abroad to did that make you lean toward open wheelers?

Or were you open to the idea of touring cars and supercars and things at that point?

I feel like when we moved to Europe and when I made the decision to race

in Europe the first time, the goal was always Formula One and single seeders.

I feel like if you make that kind of sacrifice, you need to go for 100%.

Yeah, like if I didn't go to Europe, I feel like touring cars and V8

supercars would be number one goal, supercars would be for sure the goal for me.

And that was always the goal when I was in Australia.

But as soon as I made that first flight to Europe, it was like,

if we're going to go to Europe, we may as well stay there and do it properly.

How old were you?

And it's pre-pandemic or something you knew if there wasn't a way earlier than the pandemic.

I've lived in Italy for nine years now since I was 10 years old.

So 2018 end of 2018.

I lived there full time.

2019 was my first full season and I've been there before the pandemic

and just very, very young, living alone as well.

Ended up, dad ended up leaving me at 13 years old where he moved away from where I was.

And he was around three hour drive away from me in Italy.

So from 13 was alone.

And that's when I joined the Ferrari driver Academy in 2021, end of 2021.

So fully by myself from then.

Can you speak Italian a little bit?

Yeah, I have, I can understand all the mechanics of the track.

And I feel like that's the only thing that I need to be able to do.

That's an asset, that's an asset.

Exactly. That's something that helps, especially with the mechanics.

They work 12 hour days and they don't want to be talking another language.

Like they've already working too hard.

So if you can work their language and speak to them outside of racing as well,

they really enjoy it and they take that for granted as well.

So you've done it to tell me exactly where you live.

But are you up in that kind of north eastern part?

I mean, like Premier, for example, they're up around, I think they're north

east of Bologna, directly east of Verona.

They're in that sort of region, aren't they?

Yeah, so I've lived in three parts of Italy.

Now I've lived in Maranello in Ferrari.

Then I moved to Desenzano, which is in between Milan and Venice

and around 40 minutes from Prima.

And that's where the main karting races were in Europe.

And then now I'm living in Milan.

So centre of Milan for flying.

It's so much better.

Like to get to the airport is 10 times better.

So I do that now and it's still only like two hour drive from Prima.

So it's perfect.

Beautiful part of the world, not all that far from Lake Como.

Winter Olympics were just there and stuff, just amazing.

Take me to the first time you drove a single seater

where you were the visceral experience that what it evoked in you.

Yeah, for me, it was my first time was 2019, very, very young.

Just I did a one day test in Sipang in Malaysia.

Just got the call up to go do it.

And we said, of course, take the opportunity and any time

we get in the car is good.

And to be honest, the first lap I was so confused because from

karting to cars, the step is crazy.

I was expecting to be able to feel the same things and be able to

learn off what I have in my whole career and be able to put that into the first day.

First lap, I was like, everything's out the window.

Like all I know is how to overtake a car.

That's all I've learned from karting.

And I feel like that's the biggest thing about single-seaters is it's so much

different karting just because of the seat position, the way you drive the car.

You have front brakes that are locking every time you smash the break

and you're trying to work out what's going on.

And there's a lot of, let's say, new variables and you feel like you can't

see anything either.

You go from karting where you can see the front tires, see the track

to absolutely no view at all, which was scary on the lap one, to be honest.

It was scary, but then from then on, it's been very easy to get into.

Addicted, daunted.

I feel like it was daunted quite quickly.

I'm trying to, like I felt like I've never driven a car before when I first did it.

So to go from that to now where I am today, it took a while, to be honest.

You've come from another radio station.

We've got a massive week here at Albert Park.

Will you stick around for a little bit longer?

We're going to take a quick break here on the short cast.

We want to talk a bit more with you about this weekend and the year ahead.

Perfect.

You're listening to the Motorsport Brief joined for this edition by James

Wharton, the head of the season opener, Formula Three on the streets of Albert

Park, huge year ahead for him.

In the first part, we talked about what he was doing over summer in New Zealand,

but we want to kind of drill down to the year ahead.

Now, firstly, I reckon you and I ran into each other in Albert Park last year.

And I could tell even at that stage, you were gutted.

You had real high hopes of what 2025 would be like.

But even after that opening round, mate, you were a bit of that spark had gone,

hadn't it?

Yeah, 2025 was by far the toughest year of my career to date.

And I feel like that was needed.

I've had it not easy, but I've had it quite simple over the last couple of

seasons where I'd be fighting at the front, be top three in the championship

by the end of the season and just have a very solid year.

So 2025 was, let's say, a big punch in the stomach.

And after Albert Park going to Albert Park, really having big

expectations to show the Australians who I am.

And that was my big motivation for 2025.

But going to 2026 is just giving me more motivation to do a good job in Albert

Park. I've got the team around me that I want.

I've put in place the best team I could possibly have made for myself and so

comfortable with the people around me that for me, 2026 is redemption of 2025.

I love that.

It's great that you've been able to frame it like that.

Is that a conscious choice by you?

Maybe you've had conversations with your dad or other that you're trying to

make good people around you.

How have you been able to compartmentalize it like that?

Yeah, it's very, it's very hard to make those decisions with a lot of people

involved, like you have a lot of older people and your dad, your trainer,

they're a lot more mature than you.

So you sort of have to listen to them.

But at the same time, this year has been mainly my own choices.

When I made the choice to go to Premier, it was quite early on in 2025.

And they were still on the back foot, let's say, in the new car.

And not many people had confidence that they would get to the front.

But you wanted to reunite with them.

Yeah. And that was me.

Like, I understood that by the end of 2025, that would be at the front.

And they showed me the last two races, people were coming to me like,

you've made the best decision you could have possibly made.

And even drivers within the Premier team that were in 2025, not gonna say names,

but they come to me and said, you've made the best choice ever.

And the car's in a good spot.

So I was nervous at the start to make that decision.

But I knew I had the trust in the team.

And I went to Premier and said, I want this engineer, this mechanic,

and I want this team manager.

And they said, OK, let's do that.

So the whole team is basically around me.

And that's all I can ask for.

Can we just just tap into a little bit of your open wheel success, if we can,

in laying the foundation for what we hope will be a good year in Formula Three

for you, I mean, runner up in the 2024 Formula Regional.

I mean, F4 UAE Crown in 2023, there were race wins in Italian F4.

I mean, you come in, even though 25 was tough, you come in with some good credentials.

Yeah, I feel like that's why the previous years are so important.

Like, yes, I had a tough 2025, but there is a lot of people in Europe

know what I'm capable of.

And there's teams like Premier that know I can win races with the right car

and win races on the biggest stage.

So for me, that's just added confidence.

But for me, I take 2025 as the biggest learning I could have ever had.

And winning races is all good.

And that's very fun.

But the down is where you see the right people around you.

And the people that stick with you through that time

is the people that you need when you win as well.

So I've learned the ups and downs, but I feel like I know enough now

to go and win some races this year as well.

You touched on Ferrari Academy there and that chapter that you that you had with them

at your age and stage of your career, how beneficial was that?

What things did you perhaps learn and get from that?

Yeah, to be honest, sitting here today, I would have rather that when I was a little bit older,

I feel like to be able to fully get the experience I needed to be a bit more mature.

I was definitely still too young at the start.

And I progressed a lot throughout the four years there and the three years there.

And they helped me so much as a driver, but as a person as well.

Going to live by yourself at that age.

You learn so many different things.

And as I said, just then, I would rather be a little bit older

when I did that stage of my life, but I'm still so wanted to have had that

to have that experience already.

And I'm only 19 years old is is amazing.

But I really motivated to get back in those kind of situations.

That's my goal.

I love the that's a really important reminder there of your of your age, right?

And then adding to the story, you get to not just sample,

you get to play in Formula Two a bit last year as well.

Tell us about that, what that was like.

And is that the clear target for you for for 27?

Yeah, to be honest, that race came out of nowhere.

I was in Germany. It was Trident, wasn't it?

It was Trident.

I was in Germany testing for one of our younger drivers in Premier,

helping him out, driver coaching him.

And I got the call like, you need to be in Milan tomorrow.

We need to do seat fit.

And for me, I was like, I didn't believe it at the start

because I didn't know that one of the drivers got sick.

I had no idea.

So I was like, OK, it's time to lock into an F2 car.

My brain had to switch off from the resting off season to straight back

into a Qatar I've never been to in a car I've never been in.

I did 30 laps in the old F2 car, old style F2, and that's hit straight into Qatar.

So one of the coolest experiences I've ever had in a race car,

just on a night race, night qualifying for the first time in a car.

That's that powerful is insane.

And I couldn't think Trident enough for giving me that opportunity.

But at the same time, it gave me confidence

that people still know what I'm capable of.

And when opportunities come up, they call me, which is all I can ask for.

You're nice.

So the immediate focus, then, is what you do in F3 this year.

How important to come out of the blocks at Albert Park strong

and set that tone for the year.

Yeah, exactly. As you said, F3 is not a very long season.

So if you don't start well, you're not going to be able to get results.

And for some reason in our sport by June, July,

all the decisions are made for the next year.

So that's why I need to start strong.

The goal is F2 in 2027, as we just said before.

And that's the motivation in these first two races,

is to put my name back at the front where people know it should be.

And then, yeah, obviously, understanding what 2027 is going to bring.

Do you enjoy Albert Park and what's it like in an F3 machine?

To be honest, an F3 machine, I think is better than F2

just because it's a little bit more nimble, the F3 car.

And having a street track, but a normal track as well.

And the same is something that we don't have for the rest of the year.

And there's no other track like it.

And I love the Ford RS owns gives the racing a little bit more fun

and makes it a little bit easier to overtake.

It's been a nice addition to Albert Park as not having F2 and F3 there.

That's I think something that was needed.

Australia need to see what the European former three and former two are like.

Get to see that with their own eyes and experience

that we have family and friends coming this weekend.

This is one of the races where I can say that there's a lot of family there.

In Europe, there's no one.

There's maybe my dad, my parents, but it's very hard for my cousins.

They're very young. I'm the oldest cousin.

So for the little ones to come over to Europe is too much.

So they came this weekend and they're supporting me.

So if you win in front of the family, it makes it better.

Are they budding or inspired potential races among them?

To be honest, they're so young that we don't know yet.

But there's definitely a couple of little ones that I'm pushing for it.

And I have an old mechanic who now has four grandchildren.

Now I'm trying to get one of them into racing.

Oh, well done. OK, can I finish with a fun yard with Rusty's garage?

I love at times to tap into either things that people might one day love

to have in the garage or the or the shed, right?

All things that are already currently working on.

He chatted with a colleague in Jason Skylus on his pod very recently,

the podium, and I learned something about you that I didn't know.

You have a 1979 Toyota Yute.

Is this true? Yes. How restowed is that?

What have you done to that thing?

So, yeah, me and my dad have a little bit of a side gig with 79s.

And we now have eight of them in the garage right now.

We have a couple that are not being touched with zero kilometres.

And then we have mine, which I've souped up a little bit with different rims,

lifted it up a little bit, but my dad just bought a single cab as well.

So we've got a bit of a variety, but I love my 79 and floor shift.

What are we talking about shift?

We have trying to, let's say, keep a couple non-touched,

keep them in the shed for me when I'm older.

But also my one, that's my personal one.

I'm definitely trying to make it into a bit of a beast. Awesome.

Hey, mate, Tom is going to beat us here.

I just want to say a massive thank you for coming in today.

We have shared only a little snippet of your your story, a chapter, if you will.

And you've got plenty more that I know you want to write.

Thanks for a fun summer.

There was a lot of variety there.

You had a race win there, which is great.

And I hope that's given you the impetus,

the groundwork for a great year in in 2026.

Go well. Yeah, no, thank you for having me.

And as I said, it's overdue chat and I can't wait to speak again soon.

There you go. That is it for today's edition.

If you've enjoyed this one, you can find fellow F3 drivers,

Louis Sharp and Freddie Slater in our library.

Recorded in January this year, the Kiwi and the Brit both have great stories

and dreams just like James of making it big in motorsport.

Keep an eye out for more EPs during the week of GP at Albert Park and the days after.

Bye for now.

The Motorsport Brief - with James Wharton on the F1 pathway 🏎️

About this episode

Formula 3

Formula 2

Formula 1

club day

interstate races

karting

open wheelers

touring cars

Formula One

V8 supercars

Ferrari Driver Academy

single seater

Sepang

front brakes

Formula Three

Formula Regional

F4 UAE Championship

Formula Two

Trident

seat fit

F2 car

F3

F2

Albert Park

Ford RS

rims

lifted

floor shift

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