“Injustice to the single-seater ladder that we have” – Callum Ilott is vying for Oscar Piastri getting a deserved 2023 Formula 1 seat.
Renault cadet Oscar Piastri is only the third driver in motorsports history to win junior categories F2 and F3 in consecutive seasons, after Ferrari and Mercedes drivers Charles Leclerc and George Russell, respectively.
Despite this, he missed out on an F1 seat for this year, with the only consolation being him being nominated as the Alpine reserve to Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.
Callum Illot, like many others, are disappointed with this, and genuinely hopes Piastri gets the deserved seat for the 2023 season.
“From stories in the past I believe similar things have happened in the sense of young guys didn’t make it and you always believe that’s not going to happen to you, and at the end of the day life is like that.
“But with Oscar it’s a bit different in the sense that there wasn’t availability for the support package that he had for this year, so I wasn’t surprised in that sense.
“What would be a surprise is if at the end of this year he didn’t have a seat for the following year because you can have a year off, as we’ve seen with many drivers, but if he doesn’t get one at the end of the year, I’d be very surprised.
“That would be an injustice to junior formula and the single-seater ladder that we have.”
This never gets old 😍@alpinef1team #A521 pic.twitter.com/ssU6ap2onU
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) December 15, 2021
Callum Ilott on not getting a full seat in F1…yet
Ferrari Driver Academy will be without the services of Callum Illot this year, with him opting for IndyCar, Juncos Hollinger Racing snapping him up.
Despite vying for Piastri, he is himself realistic of his chances of a full seat in F1, noting how the 20 drivers have worked hard to get the seat, with money also playing a significant role, of course.
“There’s 20 seats [in F1], and most of them are filled by the guys who have proven [themselves] and earned that seat for a long time, and at the end of the day, it’s expensive.
“It’s expensive for the teams. It’s expensive for the sponsors. You’ve got to fit into that package, and yeah, unfortunately, it doesn’t always work.
“It’s an individual sport in the way it works, and unfortunately for the young guys… for me, it was a very lonely discovery process of that’s how the world works.
“IndyCar is a new start for me and a great opportunity, so yeah, that’s the way I want to look at it, and I think to be fair for me, I will have hopefully a very good career out here.”
