After a successful 2023 season which saw him take the Formula Regional Oceania Championship title, Charlie Wurz stepped up to Formula 3 with Jenzer Motorsport. Unfortunately, the Austrian driver struggled throughout the 2024 F3 season, finishing outside the points on all but one occasion. He finished his debut season 22nd in the driver’s championship with only 10 points.
A disappointing debut
Wurz suffered a difficult debut in Bahrain. He qualified 16th out of the 30 competing drivers. Unfortunately, though Wurz drove well, especially for a newcomer to the series, he was unable to match the performance of the likes of Campos Racing’s Mari Boya and Oliver Goethe who made their into the points despite starting from similarly low positions. Instead, Wurz ended the sprint race P19, 13 places behind his teammate Max Esterson who finished the race P6.
The next day’s feature race proved similarly disappointing as the driver was not able to make his way into the points. After starting the race from P16, he finished P16, though this time ahead of Esterson and their Jenzer Motorsport teammate Matías Zagazeta.
10 points in Melbourne
Despite the disappointment of the 2024 Sakhir F3 round, Wurz drove confidently in Melbourne. This time though, the Austrian’s fortunes would be better. Despite qualifying 14th, he gave a careful and steady drive in the sprint race to cross the line 13th. He was, however, classified P11, after Prema Racing’s Dino Beganovic and PHM AIX Racing’s Nikita Bedrin were handed time penalties which saw them drop down the rankings despite their respective P6 and P8 finishes.
This P11 finish would be Wurz’s second-best finish of the season. His best would come one day late in the feature race. Despite starting P14, Wurz demonstrated excellent tyre management throughout the race. This saw him leap up through the ranks, and aided his defensive drive when under pressure. He crossed the line fifth to take his first, and ultimately, his only 10 points of the season.
The start of a downward spiral
Unfortunately, Wurz’s 2024 F3 season would fall into a sort of downward spiral after his success in the Melbourne round. He would fail to earn points in any other race, with his next-best performance being a P13 finish in the feature race in Spain.
Perhaps his most disappointing weekend, however, would be the 2024 Silverstone F3 round. Despite a strong start to the weekend, which saw him qualify 13th, the Austrian driver would again fail to score points.
After retiring on Lap 11 of the sprint race, Wurz went into the feature race hoping to salvage his weekend. Unfortunately, he faced further disappointment. After starting the race from P11, after the 10-second penalty that he received after the sprint race was converted into the five-place grid drop, Wurz found himself on the back foot. He was ultimately unable to finish the race, instead retiring on Lap 15.
Unfortunately, Wurz would not be able to salvage his debut F3 season. After an early retirement in Hungary, he finished P26 and P23 in Spa-Francorchamps, before finishing a P24 and a disappointing P14 in Monza. He finished the season with only the ten points scored in Australia – just one point behind his teammate Esterson.
Wurz to race with Trident in 2025
Despite his less-than-impressive form in 2024, Wurz will have a chance to redeem himself in 2025. In September 2024, days after the end of the season, Trident announced that Wurz would join them for his second F3 season.
When speaking on the team’s decision to partner with Wurz, Trident Team Manager, Giacomo Ricci described the Austrian as “an intelligent and fast driver.”
“We are thrilled to announce that Austrian driver Charlie Wurz is joining the Trident Motorsport family. Charlie is an intelligent and fast driver.”
Ricci added that the team was confident that the young driver would perform well with the team.
“As he embarks on his second year in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, we are confident that he will perform exceptionally well in our colours. We look forward to working with him during the post-season tests.”
