Callum Ilott Bio
Callum Benjamin Ilott is a British racing driver born on 11 November 1998 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. Known across the motorsport world simply as Callum Ilott, he competes in the IndyCar Series, where he drives the No. 90 Dallara-Chevrolet for Prema Racing. He previously raced in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship with Jota Sport in the Hypercar class and was runner-up to Mick Schumacher in the 2020 Formula 2 Championship. Ilott is also a former member of the Ferrari Driver Academy and once served as a test and reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari.
Early Life and Background
Callum Benjamin Ilott grew up in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, where his parents encouraged him to try a wide range of sports, including football, cricket, rugby, and tennis. His path toward motorsport began in a familiar way for many drivers, at a friend’s birthday party held at a go-kart track. That visit sparked a strong interest in racing, and he soon turned his attention toward competitive karting.
Ilott made his karting debut in 2008 and quickly climbed the junior ranks. He scored his first major karting win in 2011 in the Formula Kart Stars series and finished third in the German Junior Karting Championship, both in the KF3 category. The following year, racing for Chiesa Corse Team, he won the WSK Masters Series and the WSK Final Cup, and was named the youngest ever WSK Driver of the Year. He continued to add trophies in 2013 and 2014, including a CIK-FIA European Championship title.
Path to NASCAR
While Ilott is widely known for his single-seater and sports car career, the present Driver page does not draw on confirmed connections to NASCAR national series. The inputs provided do not support any verified NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, or NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series appearances, teams, or wins. Therefore, sections covering a NASCAR ladder or transition are omitted to avoid speculation.
Callum Ilott Career
Early Career (2015-2017)
Ilott made his single-seater debut in the 2015 Toyota Racing Series with ETEC Motorsport. Later that year, he stepped up to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Carlin at the age of sixteen and immediately impressed in preseason testing, finishing second in wet conditions. He scored one podium at the Nürburgring and ended his rookie season twelfth overall.
For 2016, Ilott moved to Van Amersfoort Racing and captured his first victory in the series at Circuit Paul Ricard, followed by another win at the Red Bull Ring, ending the year sixth overall. Ahead of the 2017 season, he was confirmed at Prema Powerteam, where he won six races and added six further podium finishes, finishing fourth in the championship and helping Prema secure the Teams’ title for the fifth straight year.
GP3 and Formula 2 Breakthrough (2018-2020)
In 2018, Ilott joined ART Grand Prix in the GP3 Series and finished third overall behind teammates Nikita Mazepin and the late Anthoine Hubert, scoring two wins and seven podiums. That same year he made his full FIA Formula 2 Championship debut, taking his maiden F2 pole at Monza and adding podiums at Catalunya and Sochi to finish eleventh in the standings.
Ilott reached his career high in single-seaters in 2020 with UNI-Virtuosi Racing, still a Ferrari Driver Academy member. He took his first Formula 2 victory at the Red Bull Ring after pole-sitter Zhou Guanyu was hit by electrical issues, and ended the year with three wins, five poles, and six podiums. He was the championship runner-up to fellow FDA driver Mick Schumacher.
Formula 1 Test and Reserve Role (2019-2022)
After his time in Red Bull’s junior programme ended in 2015, Ilott joined the Ferrari Driver Academy and gained his first Formula 1 experience in the 2019 Barcelona in-season test with Alfa Romeo Racing, completing 41 laps before a crash in Turn 3 ended his running. A planned FP1 debut with Haas at the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix was canceled by poor weather, but he later became Scuderia Ferrari’s test driver for 2021 and Alfa Romeo’s second reserve driver, sharing duties with Robert Kubica. He appeared in FP1 at the Portuguese and Austrian Grands Prix, carrying car No. 98, and returned as Alfa Romeo’s reserve for the 2022 Miami Grand Prix.
IndyCar Career (2021-Present)
Ilott moved to the IndyCar Series in 2021 with Juncos Hollinger Racing, debuting at the Grand Prix of Portland. He signed a full-time deal with the team for 2022, but a crash at the 106th Indianapolis 500 broke his right hand and forced him to miss the Detroit round. He returned at Road America and finished eleventh, then closed the year by qualifying on the front row at Laguna Seca before retiring with engine issues. In 2023, he matched his career-best IndyCar result with a fifth place at St. Petersburg and again at Laguna Seca, before mutually parting ways with Juncos Hollinger Racing in October 2023.
In 2024, Ilott filled in for the injured David Malukas at Arrow McLaren, racing the season opener at St. Petersburg and the Indianapolis 500, where he finished eleventh. He also assisted the team with hybrid system testing. In September 2024, Prema Racing announced Ilott as a full-time 2025 driver alongside Robert Shwartzman. During 2025, he finished twelfth at the Indy 500 before being demoted to last for a front-wing infraction, then posted the team’s best results of the year with back-to-back sixth-place finishes at Laguna Seca and Portland, ending the season seven points behind his teammate.
Sports Car Career (2021, 2024, 2026)
Ilott expanded into sports car racing in 2021 with Iron Lynx, contesting the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari 488 GTE, where he scored a GTE Am class podium on debut. He returned to prototype racing in 2024 with Hertz Team Jota in the FIA World Endurance Championship, sharing the No. 12 car with Norman Nato and Will Stevens. The trio finished second in the Qatar season opener and earned a breakthrough Hypercar win at Spa-Francorchamps after a mid-race red flag, the first WEC Hypercar victory for Jota. In 2026, Ilott is set to compete in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Wright Motorsports in the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Notable Races and Milestones
Signature moments include his 2020 Formula 2 victory at the Red Bull Ring, his GTE Am podium on his 2021 Le Mans debut, and his maiden Hypercar win at Spa-Francorchamps in 2024. He also matched his best IndyCar result with a fifth-place finish at Laguna Seca in 2023.
Callum Ilott Career Wins
Callum Ilott’s verified wins span single-seaters, sports cars, and karting. His major single-seater victories include six FIA Formula 3 European Championship races, two GP3 races, and three FIA Formula 2 races. In endurance sports cars, he scored one FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar win at Spa-Francorchamps in 2024.
IndyCar Series Highlights
Ilott has not recorded an IndyCar Series victory. His best finishes in the championship are fifth place, achieved at St. Petersburg and Laguna Seca during the 2023 season, and his best qualifying result came at Laguna Seca in 2022, when he started on the front row in second.
2025 Season Performance
Callum Ilott’s 2025 season was his first full IndyCar campaign with Prema Racing, the Italian squad entering the series as a single-car effort alongside Robert Shwartzman. The year was defined by a learning curve typical of an expanding team, with Ilott working closely with engineers to adapt to the No. 90 Dallara-Chevrolet package. His strongest stretch came late in the year, when back-to-back sixth-place finishes at Laguna Seca and Portland delivered the team’s best results of the season.
Elsewhere on the calendar, the Indianapolis 500 proved frustrating. Ilott crossed the line twelfth, but a post-race technical infraction regarding the front-wing endplate dropped him to last, erasing a strong run on superspeedway duty. Road and street course form gradually improved through the middle of the season as Prema built data, though consistency remained a focus area heading into the off-season.
Ilott ended 2025 only seven points behind teammate Robert Shwartzman, a sign of progress for the new Prema IndyCar program. Beyond IndyCar, his prior WEC experience and confirmed 2026 IMSA seat at Wright Motorsports point to a continued presence in top-line sports car racing. Looking ahead, Ilott’s combination of single-seater race craft and endurance prototype mileage keeps him firmly on the radar for top international prototype and IndyCar opportunities.
