James Wharton reveals split lung after ‘avoidable’ Melbourne F3 teammate crash

Prema Formula 3 driver James Wharton was left with a split lung after his crash with Prema teammate Louis Sharp in Melbourne, the Australian driver has revealed.

Wharton, a former Ferrari Driver Academy member, also could not do fitness training for over three weeks, or fly until receiving the green light from medical. Wharton described the crash as “so avoidable” for both drivers, a teammate collision which “can’t happen again”.

James Wharton opens up on Melbourne Formula 3 accident

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Side-by-side in the F3 season-opening Melbourne sprint race, Sharp and Wharton collided at Turn 5, shunting the pair into the barrier with a major impact.

The race was immediately red flagged, and did not resume due to the extensive damage to the tyre barriers.

Both drivers thankfully walked away from the crash scene, but on medical grounds, did not partake in the feature race.

Wharton has since revealed the aftermath which he endured from that crash.

“I had a pneumothorax in my lung, which is basically a split lung,” he revealed on the Missed Apex Formula 1 podcast.

“So basically I couldn’t train. I couldn’t do any fitness for three and a half weeks, and couldn’t fly until I got cleared by the medical team.

“So it was one of the most boring three weeks I’ve had.”

Expanding on how that lung injury was inflicted, Wharton added: “I had a bit of time to brace for it [the impact], which is why I ended up with the pneumothorax, the hospital said.

“Because I braced and held my breath, my lungs obviously hit my chest cavities. So that’s probably why I actually had the split lung.”

Wharton said that he and Sharp were lapping “fourth tenths quicker than the leaders” at the time of their collision, which he described as the “positives we have to take away”.

But, Wharton branded the crash “so avoidable” on both parts, and “not a good look” for the pair.

“To have a perception of crashing with teammates is not what anyone wants.”

But, Wharton and Sharp have “spoken”, with Wharton stating that “we’re always going to be quite close”. He assured that there will be no “bad blood” between them.

It is, though, an incident which Wharton stresses “can’t happen again”.

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Though Wharton’s home race weekend concluded on that sour note, he looked back on the experience up until that point very fondly.

Wharton said the stars of F3 “feel like we’re Formula 1 drivers” at the Australian Grand Prix, due to the extent of knowledge which he says Australian fans have of the junior formulas.

“Up until Saturday, it’s one of the best weekends I’ve had overall,” Wharton reflected.

“Just every time you go back, every time you get involved with the Australian community, it feels so special. And the amount of fans that were out this year was even more than last year.

“I feel like hopefully every time I go back, my personal brand is building more and more, and people can come on board more and more.

“Every time I get there on a Wednesday or a Thursday, I’m just impressed by how many Australians know Formula 2 or Formula 3. In Europe, it’s much less.

“So it’s very good to see, and it just makes us drivers feel so special. Even though we’re only in Formula 3, we feel like Formula 1 drivers.

“So it’s a super cool experience. And overall, it’s the best weekend of the year for me. So now the rest are back to work, and a lot more serious for me as well.”

After the cancellation of the Bahrain F3 round, the season resumes in Monaco on the first weekend in June.

Wharton confirmed that he is now “back to my healthy self”, and “trying to get back into the gym and trying to get back to where I was” before Melbourne, ahead of returning to action in Monaco.

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