Thursday’s Free Practice session around the tight streets of the Principality was particularly chaotic. ART Grand Prix’ James Wharton set a 1:29.891 on the medium compound, but heavy traffic compromised many push laps. He switched to the soft tyre with 20 minutes remaining, yet a red flag halted the session. After a brief restart, Wharton concluded FP in P29.
In qualifying, James posted a 1:26.457, placing him 22nd on the grid. The narrow layout of Monaco usually means little to no chance of recovery during the races.
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Saturday’s Sprint Race therefore began cautiously. Starting from P22, Wharton found himself boxed in by traffic and dropped two positions in the opening phase. Knowing that overtaking in Monaco often invites unnecessary risk, he kept a cool head. That decision paid off, as the Safety Car was deployed just a few corners later following a contact at Portier. By the end, Wharton had regained ground and crossed the line back in P22.
Sunday's Feature Race was where everything came together. A clean launch saw the Australian immediately gain one place off the line. As the laps unfolded, he steadily progressed to P20 and continued to climb thanks to consistent pace, strategic awareness, and capitalising on rivals’ mistakes. By the final laps, he was up to 12th, and eventually crossed the line in P11.
Despite narrowly missing out on his first points in the championship, Wharton gained 11 positions, an outstanding achievement on a circuit where overtakes are a rarity. It was one of the standout performances of the weekend and a strong statement of progress.
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“Overall, we’re still not exactly where we want to be”, James Wharton said. “Qualifying was tough, coming straight from free practice and being my first time on this track didn’t help. I was under the limit in FP and didn’t make a big enough step in qualifying. We made changes for the Sprint Race, learned a lot, and things came together in the Feature. I felt much more confident, and I’m thankful to the team for their hard work. We’ve made huge progress since Thursday, and I’m confident heading to Barcelona, a track I know well and where I won twice last year in FRECA. The goal is to qualify stronger and score solid points before the break.”
The European FIA F3 triple-header wraps up in Spain this weekend, with the next round taking place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from May 30 to June 1.