Photo: ACI Sport
James Wharton, who recently departed the Ferrari Driver Academy, has secured his racing future as he will step up to the Formula Regional European Championship this year with Prema.
The Australian was the winner of the inaugural FDA Scouting World Final in 2020, and his first year as a Ferrari junior was spent karting.
He transitioned into Formula 4 last year with Prema, coming fifth in the final season of the German championship, then in 2023 won the F4 United Arab Emirates title, came second in Euro 4 and fourth in Italian F4, amassing a total of 13 race wins over the two years.
“I’m super excited to continue and make the next step of my career alongside my second family,” said Wharton. “I can’t wait to get started and keep making the steps we have been for the last two seasons of F4. I feel honoured to have the confidence from Rene [Rosin, team principal] and I thank the team for giving me the opportunity for the next step.”
Wharton’s team-mates will be F1 Academy champion Marta Garcia, McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu and Ferrari junior and FREC race-winner Rafael Camara. Ugochukwu has already been his team-mate for the last two years, and Camara was too when he was racing in F4 in 2022.
“We have had a great relationship with James so far, and we look forward to having him with us for 2024 as well,” said Rene Rosin.
“He always fought for wins and podiums in every championship, so we trust him to be able to do the same in FREC. We know this is a particularly tricky series, but we are confident we will manage to make all the steps we need to maximize our potential together and have a successful learning experience.”