Alfa Romeo reserve driver and Ferrari Driver Academy member Callum Ilott will join the Juncos Hollinger team for the upcoming race at Portland.
Ilott came runner-up to Mick Schumacher in the 2020 Formula 2 championship but has not had a regular racing programme since. He drove first practice for Alfa Romeo at the Portuguese Grand Prix and raced last month at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Iron Lynx, in a Ferrari GT car.As reported by RaceFans, Ilott looks set to will miss out on a seat at Alfa Romeo for the 2022 season.
Ilott announced today that he would be joining the relaunched Juncos Hollinger IndyCar team, which will return to the series at the Portland Grand Prix next weekend, after completing final tests. With three events remaining on this year’s IndyCar calendar, Juncos Hollinger are aiming to set up the 77 Chevrolet-powered car ahead of starting a full-time campaign for 2022.
“I am pleased and excited to be announcing I will be racing with Juncos Hollinger Racing at Portland,” said Ilott as part of the announcement. “This will be my first time in IndyCar and running in the United States, which will be a bit of a change from running on the European side.”
He confirmed that he had been given permission from the Ferrari Driver Academy to join Juncos Hollinger. “I am looking forward to working with the team during this first phase of their development and proud to be a part of this opportunity to build into their future embarkment. I would like to thank the Ferrari Driver Academy for allowing me to take this opportunity and for Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger for bringing me on board the team.”
Although Juncos are a familiar name to IndyCar, having run in the series from the 2017 Indy 500 until the end of 2019. Juncos Hollinger is a relaunched initiative, joined by former Williams board member Brad Hollinger, as well as Ricardo Juncos.
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Jere (@jerejj)
1st September 2021, 18:19
So this was his reference.
Red Pill (@redpill)
1st September 2021, 20:07
@jerejj
Yup, sounds like the Sauber/AF rumor of them going with Mercedes drivers line-up (de Vries & Bottas) holds water. If Ilott can’t get a seat at Sauber, then I don’t see how Gio can stay? Also sounds more like Schu will be staying at Haas.
I’m sad for Ilott, I was interested to see how he would do in a F1 car, he did well in F2. It’s not F1 but Indy comes across as a happy & conformable place for drivers to have a career. I wish him well in Indy.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out with the Ferrari and Sauber’s relationship, sounds like the wind is shifting.
Witan
1st September 2021, 18:34
This was his big announcement then, not an F1 seat.
Good luck to him. He is seriously underrated as a driver.
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
1st September 2021, 19:20
Wanted him in f1 but look forward to seeing him in Indy. I was wondering what his tweet was about
JustSomeone
1st September 2021, 19:32
Cool! 👍
BasCB (@bascb)
1st September 2021, 19:44
Good to see Ilott get a chance to race for at least these three races (and surely it means he has at least a shot at getting a seat for next year, right?).
Dave
1st September 2021, 20:43
Sportscars also a possibility.
PT (@pt)
1st September 2021, 21:26
It’s strange to see that Ferrari academy drivers have no place in Alfa Romeo, particularly someone of the talent of Ilott. Tragic! It’s sad to see talented drivers miss out while drivers like Nikita Mazepin and Latifi are valued. But this has always been the story in F1.
Balue (@balue)
2nd September 2021, 7:35
Isn’t Indycar the kiss of death for any F1 prospects?