Motorsport Memories with Callum Ilott

As part of a brand new series brought to you by Adrian Flux, single-seater racing star Callum Ilott (currently part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, and racing for UNI-Virtuosi in FIA Formula Two) relives his top three Motorsport Memories. He takes us from karting to F1. 

You can read Ilott’s thoughts or listen to them by clicking play on the embedded video below.

 

Motorsport Memory Number One – The first experience of Formula One 

 

Ilott during the 2020 lockdown

My first motorsport memory was back in 2008. It was on the way to my first F1 race at Silverstone. When I say ‘first F1 race’, I wasn’t racing, of course! I was five miles away from the circuit in the car, the window wasn’t open but I could hear a rumbling, and I put the window down and, to be fair, I didn’t really register it at first. After a while I realised that was the sound of the Formula One cars from five miles back. That was what I could hear – whether it was a plane or something, but it was a Formula One car. 

Then, to arrive at the circuit and your whole body’s shaking with the sound and then seeing and hearing these cars go past every time, and the vibrations getting louder and stronger with every pass. Yeah that was probably my first experience of how big and powerful motorsport was at the time.

I was with a couple of karting drivers that day. Harry (Harrison) Newey managed to sneak me into the paddock by passing the passes through the fence! So I managed to get into the F1 paddock and then hide in the Red Bull Energy Station for a while with him, so that was probably my first memory of that. I didn’t really remember any of the drivers at the time but I remember the scenario and the situation that I put myself into!



Motorsport Memory Number Two – A crucial race with less-than-ideal preparation

Callum Ilott FDA
Callum Ilott is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy

My second motorsport memory would be back in 2014. I was karting, at the time I was doing the European Championship and within two weeks of the fourth and final round I had appendicitis. I had to have my appendix removed. Actually, the day that it was removed was a disaster as well, we got a puncture on the way to the hospital and we had my younger sister with me so we had to leave her somewhere… when I say ‘somewhere’ I mean my neighbours! And we had to take another car from my neighbours, I think, to get to the hospital because I’d already been in pain overnight thinking it was just food poisoning or something. 

I had the operation, and then within four days of the operation there was a test at the track that everyone was racing at. I couldn’t hit an apex to save my life. I think my quickest time of the whole day was 0.4 seconds off whoever was the quickest that day. Which wasn’t bad, considering the circumstances I’d been through but at the time, but when you have the final round the next weekend that’s not what you want to be having. So I was missing every apex by a metre or so. No consistency at all. 

I was going into this final round with, I think, three points of difference between me and second place, so it was a close one, and I think even third place, who was maybe Lando (Norris) at the time, wasn’t far behind either. And then, I dunno, something clicked! Maybe all that medicine that I took had gone out of my system and I just dominated the weekend. 

I managed to win the championship. Wasn’t too bad considering the circumstances.



Motorsport Memory number 3 – Behind the wheel of a contemporary Formula One race car

Ilott testing an F1 car

My third motorsport memory would be last year, 2019, my first experience of driving a Formula One car. I got to do the Barcelona rookie test with Alfa Romeo last year, and considering I never thought I’d get this far in motorsports anyway, to be told that I was doing the test in the first place was an amazing feeling. Like an achievement I’ve unlocked out of my life!

To get to experience the whole environment, let alone the car, is an incredible thing. There’s lots to say about the day itself but when you arrive there you’ve got all the trucks, all the engineers, the experience that everyone’s around there for you on the day. It’s really quite amazing, and how much technology goes into everything. And then to get into the car itself, obviously you feel – even how you sit – you feel like ‘ok this is proper’. 

The car itself to drive is amazing, every corner you felt like you were just pushing as hard as you could just to get the car close to the limit, it just felt perfect as an engineering masterpiece. I was always pushing the braking, the high-speed (handling) was just incredible, and then the power as well. I mean, the power actually was one thing that I felt was quite similar to Formula Two. But the rest of the car – yeah, it’s in another league, and a really special feeling. 

Callum Ilott was talking to Damien Cross 12th June 2020.

 

Adrian Flux Insurance 

Adrian Flux Insurance is the UK’s largest specialist motor insurer, with bespoke policies available for high performance, imported and modified vehicles.Do you take part in motorsport or track days? Find out more about Adrian Flux’s Race Vehicle Insurance and track day cover.

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