The United Kingdom has a proud record in producing single-seater talent, and one of the finest produced in recent years is Callum Ilott.
He graduated from karting to be a regular frontrunner and race-winner in top-level international junior single-seater formulae: between 2017 and ’20 he finished fourth in the FIA Formula 3 European championship’s standings, then third in GP3’s and then finished runner-up in the table of Formula 1’s direct feeder, FIA Formula 2. And, as we discuss with him, it wouldn’t have taken many cards falling his way to turn that runner-up slot into a championship win.
He was a member of Red Bull’s young driver programme, then was snapped up by Ferrari’s scheme and that got him F1 test and free practice runs with Alfa Romeo and Haas. But, in the familiar story, while F1 race opportunities were close they never quite materialised.
Ilott then looked to the Stateside single-seater scene with two-and-a-bit years in IndyCar at the Juncos Hollinger Racing team. The opportunity wasn’t likely to take Ilott to race wins and titles, but he still managed to get within two hundredths of Laguna Seca pole, and to lead the Indianapolis 500. He’s clear that IndyCar isn’t a closed book either, even though the 25-year-old recently confirmed a 2024 switch to the top level of sportscar prototype competition, in the exciting, booming, World Endurance Championship hypercar contest racing a Jota-entered Porsche 963.
We’re grateful that Ilott just before Christmas gave his time to answer the many questions submitted for him by readers. And we found that he is as approachable and open off track as he is rapid and committed on it.
Question: Please can Callum recall his experiences of the Red Bull driver programme. Does he feel that he was given sufficient opportunity to demonstrate his talent?
Adrian King Via Facebook Callum Ilott: “Looking back to 2015, my first year in cars, Formula 3 with Carlin, in terms of a general opportunity yeah of course I was given everything to show how I was. Obviously being young and not from a motorsport family it’s definitely a thrown-in-the-deep-end situation, to which I feel like I did a good job within the scenario. It was a very competitive year in 2015, lots and lots of very talented now-professional drivers in that. So no, I was given sufficient opportunity to prove myself.
“And in a lot of ways I did, but in hindsight was it perfect given the scenario? No, obviously there’s always things that could be better, but to be honest as a driver and as a situation it built me a lot. There was a lot of stuff to learn within a short space of time and definitely in Formula 3 it’s a great place to be, especially learning how to extract speed out of an aero-dominated car, because they were quite underpowered machines, and the technical side of that there was a lot to learn and I feel like I did that and it set me up a lot for later in life and within racing.
“On the racing side, I suffered a bit because of, shall we say, lack of [him doing] Formula 4-style racing and that racecraft within a car was very different and [it’s] quite tough to overtake within Formula 3. So that would have been somewhere where I lacked a little bit. But on a global scale, no I was given every opportunity, and
