The home race of Trident’s Charlie Wurz will take place this weekend at the Austrian GP, starting off the sixth round of the 2025 FIA F3 Championship. While a month has passed since the last race in Barcelona, the drivers are ready to take on a new challenge. The Red Bull Ring is one of the most strategic tracks on the F3 calendar. Despite its simple appearance, any small mistake can cost the drivers.
Holding his ground better than in his first, Wurz’s second season in F3 has him in P16 in the standings. However, the battles are incredibly tight, with a couple of points separating the midfield. The Austrian will face the same circuit in different machinery compared to last year. Having switched from Jenzer Motorsport to Trident, he is looking to gather points and climb up the championship.
New track added, replacing Imola
It was announced that both F2 and F3 will race in Madrid next year, after the Madring was added to the F1 calendar. This decision faced mixed opinions. This street track is meant to replace the historic Imola GP, which caused quite a lot of backlash from fans. During an F3 Austrian GP media conference attended by Pit Debrief, Charlie Wurz gave his honest perspective.
While the driver is not familiar with the Madrid circuit, he admitted to liking street tracks. Wurz believes this change will be good in terms of adapting to new circuits. Nevertheless, he does think that everyone will lose out on great racing at Imola.
“Honestly, I haven’t seen much about the Madrid Ring, so I can’t comment on the track itself. I always enjoy racing at street tracks. I think to have another opportunity to do that is really cool. But also, on the other hand, racing at Imola is one of the most historic tracks.
“For me, at least, my opinion, in qualifying, it’s one of the most difficult tracks, but also the most fun tracks to put a lap together and really [maximise my performance] in qualifying is really enjoyable. So, to lose Imola is a shame.
“I think it’s good that, as F3 drivers, we get to go to new venues, learn new tracks. It’s a different skill, so to see how drivers adapt to that is also positive. I think there’s definitely some pros, and I’m excited to see how the track will be, but it’s just a shame that we would lose out for racing at Imola.”
The pressure of racing at home
Taking into account how last year’s F3 Austrian GP went, Charlie Wurz will face some added challenges this year. Yet, the Austrian disagreed, stating that his previous experience would not affect his driving. Wurz emphasised the importance of a good qualifying:
“Well, for me, I don’t consider it a challenge. I think it’s an opportunity to finally get some good food, racing at home, happy to have that. And now it’s a track that, on paper, it looks easy, but it’s always very tight in qualifying again. So, like Barcelona in a way. So, that’ll be interesting in qualifying. Again, you have to maximise what you can do. A tenth will cost you a lot of positions.”
However, the Trident driver is happy to be back on home soil. Being around familiar surroundings and Austrian fans does not add to the pressure to perform well:
“And it’s a track that I like. The weather’s great. Well, let’s see about tonight. But for the rest, it looks sunny. And having more fans here is a pleasure for me. And just enjoying the weekend and focusing on doing my job. I don’t think there’s any additional pressure. Just another race weekend that I’m looking forward to.”
Improvements for his second year
While Charlie Wurz’s maiden year in F3 had him end the season 22nd, the 2025 season saw things looking up. There is a visible difference in his racing in comparison, and the results show exactly that. In response to a question from Pit Debrief, the Austrian highlighted his switch to Trident as one of the reasons for this change. Moreover, he believes he has learned a lot, and his driving style also improved:
“Yeah, for me, I think working with Trident has been a great opportunity for me. I think I made some very big steps forward in terms of driving. I feel now I drive, well, definitely a lot better than I did last year, so that’s good.
“And just learning the new F3 car by just doing the second year again, it’s a lot easier when you know what to expect with all these venues. And for me, yeah, exactly. I’m not where I want to be, I’m not where we deserve to be, but I know if I just keep working as I am and as we are as a team, we’ll deliver in the next part of the season.”
When his change in performance is concerned, joining the 2024 second-best team in the Constructors’ championship surely helped. As the second half of the 2025 F3 season is starting with the Austrian GP, Wurz acknowledged the important lessons he learned:
“Yeah, for me, I mean, the work already with Trident started almost a year ago, so we’ve been working a long time. We’ve found each other, built a relationship, and I think we’ve done that. So I think that’s really positive. I’ve enjoyed a lot and learned so much from them. So I think it’s been, on that side, a very good season. I think I made big steps forward and learned some lessons that I for sure will keep for a long time. So that’s really positive.”
Mental preparations for F3 racing
The difficulty of being a racing driver cannot be so easily forgotten. Split-second decisions can make or break a driver’s race. Therefore, Charlie Wurz shared some insights into the work he put in behind the scenes for the F3 Austrian GP and other GPs. Admitting it comes naturally to him after so many years in the sport, he explained his pre-race process:
“Yeah, I mean, we’ve grown up in this sport since a very young age. So I started at eight years old, and I think it’s things you just build up over time. But also to warm up, we focus on hand-eye coordination, things like that, to make sure you build your reactions and warm up to it. Then, in the moment, it’s all instinct.
“You’re so used to driving, I’d say that you don’t have to think about it anymore. It all just comes naturally, and I think that’s the main thing. When it comes naturally to you, then you can make the split-second decisions. That’s quite important in this sport. So I think, yeah, in the end, just from doing it since childhood, you get so used to it.”
Returning to Austria after 2024’s results
Furthermore, negative experiences from past years can affect drivers in their later seasons. But, according to Charlie Wurz, all the hard preparations he has done with Trident and last year’s race will come to his advantage:
“For me, I have a great car, great team this year. We worked really hard on the sim since January. I’ve been preparing for it as all the other tracks. I know it very well, I know the job we can do together.
Keeping up with the same topic, the 2024 F3 Austrian GP is not a concern for Wurz. All the hardships he faced helped him learn, and he remains positive in the face of this challenge:
“I think I’m not worried about last year, I just think of it as more experience.
“I know more about the track than some other rookies, and in the F3 car especially, I think I can only take it positive that I was able to drive it last year and learn from that and use that this year to my advantage.”
Not letting emotions take the wheel
Being a racing driver comes with a lot of high-tension situations that can cause emotional outbursts. Even if Charlie Wurz is only in F3, he kept his head cool and showed a lot of maturity. While he felt disappointed by certain results, he believes that his “focus on the next race” mentality helped him so far:
“This season has not gone the way that I wanted it to. But in the end, after each weekend, I try to keep my head down, focus on the next one, not dwell too much on the previous weekend. So far, every round hasn’t gone the way that I think we should have been able to achieve.
“But keeping the same mentality, I think every weekend we’ve had a really strong pace, so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue for the next round. I’m just keeping my head down, focusing on doing the same things, and then the results will come. That’s the main thing, just focusing on the next one and not dwell too much on the previous weekend or the last five rounds.”
