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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cso avoidable\u201d for both drivers, a teammate collision which \u201ccan\u2019t happen again\u201d.<\/p>\n
James Wharton opens up on Melbourne Formula 3 accident<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The race was immediately red flagged, and did not resume due to the extensive damage to the tyre barriers.<\/p>\n Both drivers thankfully walked away from the crash scene, but on medical grounds, did not partake in the feature race.<\/p>\n Wharton has since revealed the aftermath which he endured from that crash.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a pneumothorax in my lung, which is basically a split lung,\u201d he revealed on the Missed Apex Formula 1 podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cSo basically I couldn\u2019t train. I couldn\u2019t do any fitness for three and a half weeks, and couldn\u2019t fly until I got cleared by the medical team.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it was one of the most boring three weeks I\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n Expanding on how that lung injury was inflicted, Wharton added: \u201cI had a bit of time to brace for it [the impact], which is why I ended up with the pneumothorax, the hospital said.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I braced and held my breath, my lungs obviously hit my chest cavities. So that\u2019s probably why I actually had the split lung.\u201d<\/p>\n Wharton said that he and Sharp were lapping \u201cfourth tenths quicker than the leaders\u201d at the time of their collision, which he described as the \u201cpositives we have to take away\u201d.<\/p>\n But, Wharton branded the crash \u201cso avoidable\u201d on both parts, and \u201cnot a good look\u201d for the pair.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have a perception of crashing with teammates is not what anyone wants.\u201d<\/p>\n But, Wharton and Sharp have \u201cspoken\u201d, with Wharton stating that \u201cwe\u2019re always going to be quite close\u201d. He assured that there will be no \u201cbad blood\u201d between them.<\/p>\n It is, though, an incident which Wharton stresses \u201ccan\u2019t happen again\u201d.<\/p>\n More on the junior ladder to Formula 1 via PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n F1 Fast Track: Gabriele Mini delivers; F2 Miami Sprint steals the show<\/a><\/p>\n Colton Herta rejects Romain Grosjean IndyCar vs F2 comparison<\/a><\/p>\n Though Wharton\u2019s home race weekend concluded on that sour note, he looked back on the experience up until that point very fondly.<\/p>\n Wharton said the stars of F3 \u201cfeel like we\u2019re Formula 1 drivers\u201d at the Australian Grand Prix, due to the extent of knowledge which he says Australian fans have of the junior formulas.<\/p>\n \u201cUp until Saturday, it\u2019s one of the best weekends I\u2019ve had overall,\u201d Wharton reflected.<\/p>\n \u201cJust 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time I get there on a Wednesday or a Thursday, I\u2019m just impressed by how many Australians know Formula 2 or Formula 3. In Europe, it\u2019s much less.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s very good to see, and it just makes us drivers feel so special. Even though we\u2019re only in Formula 3, we feel like Formula 1 drivers.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s a super cool experience. And overall, it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n After the cancellation of the Bahrain F3 round, the season resumes in Monaco on the first weekend in June.<\/p>\n Wharton confirmed that he is now \u201cback to my healthy self\u201d, and \u201ctrying to get back into the gym and trying to get back to where I was\u201d before Melbourne, ahead of returning to action in Monaco.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n