Callum Ilott will race the full IndyCar season with Juncos Hollinger next year.
The Ferrari Driver Academy member and 2020 Formula 2 runner-up will start his third race for the team in the season finale at Long Beach this weekend. The team has now announced he will be retained for the full 2022 championship.“Obviously we have had a steep learning curve here the last few races to try to put everything together,” said Ilott. “We have had some real positives and know the things we need to work on.
“Knowing what Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger have in place for next season and especially over the winter of what we can do in testing, I definitely feel we can put ourselves in a great position to start off the 2022 season strong.”
“After a long, tough race at Laguna, he got out of the car not even showing any signs of fatigue,” said Juncos. “Considering Laguna was a full green flag race, Callum proved to be in incredible shape.
“We know we are not the fastest car on track and have a lot of developing to do, but Callum pushes himself to get everything out of the car and has shown great speed. Over the past few weeks, Callum has shown us he is the right driver for our full-time run next year, so we are thrilled to have him join our program full-time.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
IndyCar
- Andretti confirms he’s stepping down in charge of racing team
- Ilott gets first seat in Prema’s new IndyCar team
- Palou clinches third IndyCar title as Herta passes O’Ward to win finale
- Kirkwood takes pole for finale, Palou only 24th after penalty
- Ferrucci secures second Foyt IndyCar seat for 2025 alongside Malukas
Jere (@jerejj)
24th September 2021, 17:29
So this officially rules him out of Alfa Romeo, if he ever really was in consideration.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th September 2021, 19:19
I would say it’s rather the other way round @jerejj – since he was out of contention for that seat, he went to have a look at Indycar.
Jere (@jerejj)
25th September 2021, 7:34
@bascb Yes, and I effectively imply this way by my latter part.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
24th September 2021, 17:33
From the Ferrari Acadamy to the junkiest of Indycar teams. What a career path.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th September 2021, 19:20
A bit like Ricciardo driving for HRT – in the end it helped him show the bigger teams that he was worth it, and it moved him up to where he is now.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
25th September 2021, 1:28
Nah, Daniel was always a Red Bull driver, HRT was just a convenient way of getting him to know the tracks and get some experience in a truly poor excuse of an F1 car.
Don
25th September 2021, 0:28
You think it would be better for a driver in his situation to sit forever and just hope something happens? He’s in a similar situation to Grosjean (albeit he’s with essentially a brand new team), prove yourself and the bigger teams will come calling.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
25th September 2021, 1:24
It’s probably not fair to compare DCR who have competed in CART / Indycar for decades and even won a couple of races in the process with the joke of an operation Juncos have been in Indycar.
I cannot even conceive what proving yourself under these circumstances would entail.
Luca Goodoer
25th September 2021, 6:16
Qualifying higher than 33rd for the Indy 500 would be proving yourself in a Juncos…
Don
25th September 2021, 13:40
And knocking Alonso out.
jpvalverde85 (@jpvalverde85)
24th September 2021, 17:46
At least he scored a drive, it would have been a pitty watch him getting no seat. Juncos has a great underdog story on lower formulas at US, i hope he gets a decent drive at some circuits.
Don
25th September 2021, 13:47
That is the bottom line. Very few seats available in F1 or IndyCar. He’s lucky to have a ride.
Sean (@seanloh)
25th September 2021, 3:50
Having watched Illott in F2, I really do rate him highly. I’m a bit shocked that he can’t find an F1 drive but that just shows how limited those seats are. His story in IndyCar will need to be measured by how far forward he can help propel a team that at the best of times has only managed to hang on to the rear of the field. But being IndyCar if he is as talented as it seems he is and Juncos make some smart hires to support him they can absolutely find themselves competing at a level to hold their heads up high.