Two days after the last F3 race of the year at Macau, Prema Powerteam made their first driver announcement with the arrival of Callum Ilott.
Callum Ilott is one of the few drivers who were able to get promoted straight from go-karting to Formula 3 after winning multiples go-karting championships, especially the CIK-FIA European championship.
In 2015, as a part of the Red Bull Junior team, he joined Formula 3 with Carlin and finished 12th overall and also was the only driver taking part in all races who had not scored a DNF in the season. Nevertheless, Red Bull decided not to renew his partnership with the British driver.
In 2016, he continued for a second year with Van Amersfoort Racing and after two victories, he finished P6 overall, fighting for P3 until the last event. Ilott also impressed in the latest Macau Grand Prix, constantly in the top 2 until the final race.
He tells:
“We looked at all the possibilities for 2017; GP3, Indy Lights as well as GP2 but in the end with only two years of car racing experience, another year in F3 made the most sense. From my F3 discussions, it is clear that all the teams are working incredibly hard to win the 2017 Championship but Prema’s record is impeccable, and having decided to return to F3, it is the logical team for me to join.”
By joining the best team in the series, Ilott has the title as a target as he is set to be one of the most experienced driver in F3 on the grid in 2017. René Rosin, Prema’s team manager, comments:
“I am thrilled to be able to collaborate with Callum for the next European Formula 3 season. As he was one of our main competitors in the last couple of years we got to know him well and follow his progress as he became one of the benchmark drivers in the championship. More than once, he showed outstanding natural car control skills that helped him excel, especially in challenging conditions such as we saw in Macau last weekend. Working with him will be exciting and we are really looking forward to getting started.”
Ilott is the first driver to be confirmed with Prema Powerteam in 2017. According to our information, he should be joined at least by Guan Yu Zhou and Mick Schumacher.