Kimi Raikkonen, the oldest F1 driver on the current grid, has been steadily losing form this season, forcing Alfa Romeo to look for other options. From today’s perspective, the Finn could call it a day by the end of this season and free up a space for the Italian.
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This led to one of the biggest names appearing on Alfa Romeo’s radar – Valtteri Bottas. The Mercedes driver may be left without a seat, with the team rumored to be replacing the Finn with George Russell.
In the midst of his desperate attempt to secure a ride next season, however, he faces stiff competition from the 2020 F2 season runner-up, Callum Ilott. Other drivers in the pool are Nico Hülkenberg and Haas driver Mick Schumacher.
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This leads to the next and most critical question – who deserves the second Alfa Romeo seat?
Well, despite incredibly experienced drivers ready to stabilize the ship at Alfa Romeo, we would say Callum Ilott is going to be the best of them all.
The impressive 2020 F2 season for Ilott
Ilott is undeniably one of the rising stars of the Ferrari Driver Academy. With an impressive track history in hand, there is little to prevent Ilott from becoming a future Ferrari driver. But first let’s see how Ilott has done in other racing series.
The safest is the Formula 2 World Championship. Ilott joined the 2017 series where he competed in just two laps before returning to the 2019 season as a full-time driver. He drove quite well for a newcomer and finished his debut season in 11th place after securing three poles and two podiums.
Then came his amazing 2020 performance-driven F2 season. The Briton was quite the favorite to win the title for three quarters of the season before Mick overtook.
However, Ilott never gave up and fought until the very last race of the season, because in the end the duo separated a measly 14 points. Nevertheless, Ilott secured a total of six podiums this season, including three wins. He also managed to start 6 races on pole.
Invitation from Alfa Romeo and Ferrari
In 2020, Ilott worked as a test driver for both Alfa Romeo and Haas throughout the season, along with his fierce Formula 2 battle that fell short.
As such, after the 2020 season, expectations were pretty high that Ilott would continue to compete in F2 in order to receive his much-needed redemption through the 2021 title. To everyone’s surprise, however, Ilott announced earlier that he would not be part of the F2 starting field the following season.
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Instead, the Briton was promoted to Alfa Romeo’s substitute driver. The 22-year-old was also a test driver at Ferrari.
He’s been sitting behind the wheels of the Alfa Romeo for six months. He also got some on track action this season by participating in FP1 sessions in Portugal and Austria. And that underpins the fact that he was able to bring along a much better understanding of the car.
Overall, it looks like Ilott quit F2 to put all his focus on making his career debut in F1. Will his efforts pay off next season? Or will Bottas sabotage the hopes of the British?
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View history: Ferrari strategy fails that we will never forget
The post OPINION: Why does Callum Ilott deserve an F1 seat at Alfa Romeo? first appeared on monter-une-startup.
