Ilott feels in a ‘very good position’ should an F1 opportunity arise

Ilott finished second in Formula 2 last year but was unable to secure a place on the F1 grid. Instead, he took on a test role at Ferrari and became Alfa Romeo’s second reserve driver.

The Briton also has racing commitments in sports cars this year and, in addition to his F1 duties, drives for the Ferrari-supported Iron Lynx team in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.

While F2 peers Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and Nikita Mazepin all move up, Ilott remains confident that he is in a good place to grab an opportunity when one arises and is confident in the performance of the leading rookies of 2021 .

“Yuki made a great impression in Bahrain – it was really good to see,” Ilott told Autosport.

“So from that point of view it was a good yardstick to say, ‘Look, this is what a guy can do.’ With Mick, we all know he needs some time to get there. But once he’s there, he’ll be fine. And you can already see that the pace is getting better.

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“I think they’re doing a good job and I think it’s only a matter of time before the reference is even closer. And it’s easier for me to say, ‘Well, I was right in the middle of these two guys!’

“I still think I’m in a very, very good position. Yes, I have to wait a year. I saw two people waiting.

“The focus is still on doing the best possible job on the GT side and the FP1 side, and then hopefully there will be an opportunity.”

# 71 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GT3: Davide Rigon, Antonio Fuoco, Callum Ilott

Photo by: SRO

Ilott received his first F1 practice outing with Alfa Romeo during the Portugal Grand Prix weekend and will make his next appearance at Paul Ricard later this month.

A return for a third season in Formula 2 was being evaluated, but Ilott didn’t feel that a lack of regular single-seater driving would hinder him too much if he had to intervene.

“I had discussions within Ferrari, within the F2 teams,” said Ilott.

“But the call was on the late side of the situation for F1. At this point, many of the F2 teams had already made up their minds, and it is not that easy to switch teams again and find yourself in a different unfamiliar environment.

“With five poles and three wins, I finished second in the championship. I was as close as you would win – not that you didn’t want to take that risk.

“I love to drive F2, it was a great format, there was only one place I could have done better. And I think with the three races [in the new format]’A lot has changed.

“It’s also important to drive regularly, which means that if you have to get in there is one more level of information you need to learn from Formula 1 in my opinion that I wouldn’t maximize if I had a full racing season in F2.”