Although Callum Ilott finished second in the 2020 Formula 2 season, ran for Alfa Romeo in the F1 test in Abu Dhabi after the season and almost made his debut in Free Practice 1 at the Eifel Grand Prix with Haas, there was no promotion a Formula 1 racing seat for the British in 2021. According to Mattia Binotto, Scuderia team principal, Ilott will keep his F1 eye at the FP1 games this season.
While the 2020 Formula 2 champion, Mick Schumacher, is relegating Haas to Formula 1 this year – where he will be paired with Nikita Mazepin in the 2020 standings – fifth place in the overall standings – Ilott waves , a test driver role at Ferrari for this season, the team is preparing its 2022 car while refining its 2021 machine, which will be referred to as the SF21.
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However, Binotto said that while Schumacher was the only Ferrari Driver Academy member to advance to F1 that year, he had plans for Ilott to gain free practice experience in 2021, most likely with a Ferrari customer team – so either Haas or Alfa Romeo.
“We have Mick in Haas, who is starting his experience in F1,” said Binotto, “but we still have young drivers who are competing in F2 – such as Robert Shwartzman.” And there is Callum Ilott, who will be our test driver, doing the simulator and doing free exercises. “
Last week, Ilott covered around 50 laps on Ferrari’s Fiorano test track in Maranello as part of a five-day bumper test with Ferrari racing drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz as well as Schumacher, Shwartzman, Marcus Armstrong and Giuliano Alesi.
READ MORE: Schumacher and Ilott finish the “undoubtedly positive” Ferrari test at Fiorano with 50 laps each on Friday
And Ilott, who told the Formula 2 website last December that he had no plans to race the series again in 2021, said it was a “good start” to his life as an embedded member of the Ferrari F1 team .
“It was a great feeling and a great experience to freshen up in a real car,” said Ilott, who, like his fellow passengers, used a 2018 spec Ferrari SF71H for the test.
“This was a good start to the year to get a little more experience with the team and to understand the working environment in F1 a little better, so hopefully I will immerse myself in this Ferrari F1 as much as possible through the pre-season testing can world. “
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