Callum Ilott

**Callum Ilott** (born 11 November 1998) is a British racing driver, who is currently a driver for Scuderia Ferrari in the 2021 Formula One World Championship season. Ilott was runner-up in the 2020 Formula 2 Championship.

## Career

### Karting

Ilott was considered by some to be one of the most successful karting drivers of his generation. Making his debut in 2008, he saw his first win in 2011 in the Formula Kart Stars, and finished third in the German Junior Karting Championship, both in KF3. He remained in KF3 with Chiesa Corse Team for the 2012 season, with much success. Ilott put himself on the radar at age 13 by winning the WSK Masters Series, the WSK Final Cup, and finishing as runner up in the WSK Euro Series and the CIK-FIA World Cup. He was selected as the youngest ever WSK Driver of the Year. In 2013 he contested in KF and KF2 machinery and won the Trofeo delle Industrie and the WSK Final Cup. In 2014, with Zanardi Strakka Racing, he finished fourth in the CIK-FIA World Championship, third in the WSK Champions Cup, and won the WSK Super Masters Series, as well as the CIK-FIA European Championship.

### Toyota Racing Series

Callum Ilott made his single-seater debut in the Toyota Racing Series with ETEC Motorsport, using a helmet with the Red Bull livery, but unofficially announced as a member of the Red Bull driver development programme. He took a fourth in the seventh race, and in Taupo was the quickest in the practice sessions. In Manfeild he finished near the podium. He finished 16th in the championship, being fast in qualifying and practices but struggled for race pace.

### Formula Three

Ilott stepped up to Formula Three in 2015, racing in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship with Carlin at age of 16. Despite being a rookie, his pace placed him as one of the title contenders before the start of the season. He tested F3 machinery and Formula Renault 2.0 to accumulate experience before his Formula 3 debut. In the preseason testing, Ilott made his first impressions, finishing sixth in his first collective test  and second in wet conditions on his second day. Ilott achieved one podium at the Nürburgring, finished seventh in the Rookie Championship and twelfth in the overall standings.

For the 2016 season, Ilott switched to Van Amersfoort Racing alongside rookies Pedro Piquet, Harrison Newey and Anthoine Hubert. In the second race of the first round at Circuit Paul Ricard, Ilott took his first victory in the sport and a second victory at the Red Bull Ring resulting in an overall sixth-place finish.

On 22 November 2016, Ilott was confirmed to be racing with Prema Powerteam for the 2017 season. He improved to fourth in the driver standings, losing to his teammate Maximilian Günther by 39 points. Ilott won six races and finished another six races on the podium.

### GP2 Series

In December 2016, Ilott tested with ART Grand Prix in the post-season test at Yas Marina.

### GP3 Series

After GP3 Series tests at Abu Dhabi it was announced that Ilott was scheduled to race with ART Grand Prix in the 2018 GP3 Series. He finished in 3rd place, only behind teammates Nikita Mazepin and the late Anthoine Hubert. He scored seven podiums, two of them being victories.

### FIA Formula 2 Championship

In July 2017, Ilott made his debut at the sixth round at Silverstone with Trident Racing. He finished both races outside the top-ten positions.

The following year, Ilott partook in the post-season test with Trident and Charouz Racing System.

In January 2019, it was announced that Ilott would make a full-time switch to the championship by joining Sauber Junior Team by Charouz alongside Juan Manuel Correa. He finished his rookie season in 11th position in the overall standings by securing two podiums in the sprint races in Catalunya and Sochi respectively and his maiden Pole Position in Monza.

For the 2020 season, Ilott left Sauber Junior Team by Charouz and joined 2019 teams' championship runner-up UNI-Virtuosi Racing alongside Guanyu Zhou. He will remain a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. Ilott took his first Formula 2 victory at the delayed season's opening race at the Red Bull Ring after pole sitter Zhou suffered electrical problems. Ilott announced that he would not race in F2 or F1 in 2021. Ilott ended the season with 3 wins, 5 poles and 6 podiums, finishing runner-up to fellow FDA driver Mick Schumacher.

### Formula One

Ilott was inducted into the Red Bull Junior Team in 2015 prior to his FIA Formula 3 European Championship debut, however he was dropped from the programme at the end of the year following a winless campaign. After finishing fourth in the championship in 2017, he became a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Ilott had his first experience in a Formula One car during the 2019 in-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, driving the Alfa Romeo Racing C38. He completed 41 laps before his running was cut short after a crash at turn 3. Ilott was due to make his Formula One weekend debut during the first practice session (FP1) of the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, driving for the then Ferrari-powered Haas F1 Team, but the Friday practice sessions were cancelled because of poor weather.

After appearing at the post-season test for Alfa Romeo in December 2020, it was announced that Ilott will be taking the role of Scuderia Ferrari test driver for the 2021 season. In April 2021 he was appointed Alfa Romeo's second reserve driver, sharing duties with fellow reserve Robert Kubica. Ilott appeared in FP1 for the team at the Portuguese Grand Prix, running No. 98.