Callum Ilott will make his FIA Formula 2 Championship debut this weekend at Silverstone as he joins the Italian outfit Trident alongside Nabil Jeffri.
The British racer replaces Raffaele Marciello, who had a one-off appearance last weekend at the Red Bull Ring, with the Italian racer having replaced Rapax-bound Sergio Canamasas.
Ilott’s deal is also for just for one race weekend, with his primary aim this year in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship with Prema Powerteam, where he sits fourth in the championship with three wins after the first five rounds.
“I’m really happy to make my F2 race debut, especially at the British Grand Prix, competing in front of the famous home crowd that so many drivers have described as a special and unique experience,” said Ilott.
“It’s a great opportunity to get a chance to race in a category I have definitely got my eye on for the future. The opportunity has come together late so we had no chance to get on the sim or spend much time with the engineers unfortunately.
“Nonetheless, I still want to make the most of the weekend aiming to do a good job in qualifying use the races to get useful experience of the different tyres, and gain a good understanding of tyre management, an element that makes a big difference in the category.”
It will be Ilott’s first race weekend in Formula 2 but the eighteen-year-old tested one of the cars back at the end of 2016, and he is thankful that his Prema boss Rene Rosin gave him permission to race this weekend at Silverstone.
“I’d really like to thank René and Prema for enabling me to race this weekend,” said Ilott. “They know and understand I just want to drive racing cars and they could see the value in getting some F2 seat time this year, especially after spending time at Monaco with the Prema F2 outfit.
“From doing the test at Abu Dhabi the end of last year I know just how good and quick the F2 car is to drive so I can’t wait to get out there, enjoy learning about the car and do a good job for the team.”