Wharton starting to feel ‘like myself again’ ahead of return to action in Monte Carlo

James Wharton says he is physically back to normal after his crash in Melbourne, with preparations having begun for Round 2 in Monte Carlo.

The PREMA Racing driver and his teammate Louis Sharp collided in the opening round Sprint Race, with the duo sustaining injuries that forced them to miss the Feature.

Speaking ahead of last week’s Spielberg in-season test, Wharton says he is back fully fit and raring to go.

“Physically I’m back to normal now,” said Wharton. “It's been a bit of a process trying to get my lung back where it should be and working well.

“But it was only a four or five week recovery process, which was quite easy, and then since then it's just been trying to get back in the gym and getting physically back to where I was.”

Wharton spent a bit of time in Australia after Round 1 before returning to Europe and he says he had time to review and reset what had happened at his home race weekend.

“I feel like all racing drivers don't know what to do with themselves after a couple of weeks out of the car,” he joked. “But for me it's been a really good thing to be able to step away from racing for a little bit and try and have a reset for the next part of the season.

“Obviously, Melbourne started on a really good path for us and was very positive on Friday. Then on Saturday afternoon everything changed and it's been a big recovery process for me.

“But at the same time it's made me go into a bit of a different mentality of it's a year where I need to perform. I've just tried to do as much as I can over this little break that we've had to maximise what I can do and then go into the next part of the season on the right foot.

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“Starting in Monaco is never easy, but at the same time it's where you can show how good you are. So I'm trying to start well in Monaco now, but it's been a long time out of the car.”

When asked what his main takeaway from Melbourne was, Wharton said: “I feel like before the crash we were the fastest car on track, alongside Louis as well.

“So it shows that PREMA is in a really good position and we have to give them their props for that weekend.

“I qualified inside the top eight for the first time as well. So we have to just thank the team that the car was good enough in Melbourne, and we have to take that positivity, and take that confidence into Monaco and then into the rest of the season.”

For Wharton, it is important to have a good wave of momentum going forward, especially in what will be a hugely significant few weeks in the championship and for his future plans.

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“At the end of the day our championship finishes before the start of August,” he said. “Let's say all the deals, all the decisions for 2027 are already done by the time we go into our summer break because we don't have many races after.

“So for us it's probably the hardest part of the year now as we go into the most important six race weekends of the year without any driving.

“I feel that confidence is really high at the moment. I believe in what I can do and a lot of the belief I had is starting to come back after the 2025 season. I'm starting to get back on the right track, starting to feel a lot better in myself and just trying to translate that into results now.”