After his brilliant meeting in Belgium at Spa Francorchamps, during which James Wharton won twice and finished on the third step of the podium once, the Motorsport Australia-supported driver arrived at Monza with just as high ambitions. His positions of 2nd and 3rd in Free Practice confirmed the speed, talent and determination of the Prema Racing driver. The two official Qualifying sessions that followed could have enabled Wharton to confirm his ambitions and earn a place on the front row for the weekend's races. Unfortunately, a red flag cut him off in the first, just as he was thinking of improving his times. And in the second, he was caught out by another driver when he was still on a very good lap.

Solid 3rd in the Championship

"At Monza, there's a lot of scope for overtaking and I was really hoping to be able to get back up there and aim for the podium," explained James. "I quickly realised that my car lacked speed. Even on the slipstream, I couldn't keep up with the drivers in front of me and I really had to push hard to avoid losing places. This scenario was repeated in all three races, without us really being able to find a solution with the team despite all the work done over the weekend. In a situation like that, I didn't have much choice but to give it my all, avoid any incident and stay on the track to score as many points as possible. In the end, I can be happy to leave Monza with 28 extra points. The gap to the leader of the Italian Championship has widened, which isn't good news, but I've taken back a few points on the runner-up."

Before the Championship continues in France from 21st-23rd July at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet, the All Road Management driver will take part in the new 'Euro 4 Championship' series, organised over three meetings: Mugello (7th-9th July), Monza (15th-17th September), where he will have a rematch to make, and Barcelona in Spain (20th-22th October).

About James Wharton

James Wharton is a 16-year-old Australian racing driver, who is competing in his second international Formula 4 season in 2023. Currently supported by the Ferrari Driver Academy, All Road Management and Motorsport Australia, James began karting in his native country at the age of seven. He has gone on to shine in some of the world's top single-make challenges.

A two-time winner of the prestigious SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas in Junior, he was involved in FIA Karting competitions from 2018 to 2021, where he has learnt a lot from great teams like RFM and Parolin Motorsport. Numerous podiums have been achieved, culminating in a brilliant 5th position in the KZ2 International Super Cup, a de facto World Cup for the category.

Winner in his second F4 meeting in Dubai, James Wharton finished 5th in the UAE Championship with a total of four wins, three pole positions and four fastest laps. During the 2022 season, the Australian followed up with two more 5th places in the Italian and German F4 Championships, with impressive consistency: 20 top five finishes including eight podiums.

At the beginning of 2023, the Australian won the UAE Formula 4 Championship brilliantly with the Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited team. His goal is to take more victories this season in the Italian F4 Championship with the Prema Racing team.