Young British racing talent, Callum Ilott, will be racing in the FIA European F3 Championship for the 2016 season with Dutch outfit Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR).

"Teaming up with VAR for 2016 is an ideal move and I have a good feeling about them," explains Ilott.  "They are a well supported team and I can see from testing that we all share the right motivations.  They have come close to winning the F3 Championship over the last two years and are pushing very hard to improve.  The fact that famous F1 names are putting their sons with VAR also says a lot about the team culture."

Ilott now makes this move to Van Amersfoort independent of Red Bull Junior Team sponsorship, but with the benefit of having driven a competitive first season in single-seater cars.  Thrown a challenge in 2015, Ilott successfully managed the jump from karts to F3 being the only driver classified as a finisher in all 33 races of the championship. As a 16 year old, Ilott finished 12th overall in the 35 driver-strong field with 65.5 points, gaining a series of rookie trophies and a maiden podium at the Nurburgring.

Ilott explains, "Red Bull and Carlin have given me a great introduction to cars and I am thankful to them.  For me, 2015 has been all about learning and pushing for the best results.  Now I am moving on looking to challenge for race wins and the consistency of results required to win a Championship title. It should be an interesting season and I can't wait to get back in the car!"

Team Principal Frits van Amersfoort says, “Callum was on our radar from the very first pre season test. The transition from go kart to single seater worked very well for him, despite his young age. During the first test with us in early November Callum already showed true racing spirit. Our main goal will be to help him in his ambition to be a regular front runner during his second season in autosport.”

Cambridge born Ilott, recently turned 17 and is a full-time pupil at Haileybury.  Based in the UK, he is one of Britain's many upcoming young driving talents.  Prior to his first season in cars, as a 15 year old Ilott won the CIK-FIA European Karting Championship in 2014, the WSK Super Master Series, and finished 4th in the CIK-FIA World Championship.  He began to impress the international karting scene at the tender age of 12, winning the Formula Kart Stars British Championship and finishing 3rd in the German Junior Karting Championship. In 2012, at 13, he dominated the under 15s KFJ category with wins in the WSK Masters Series and the WSK Final Cup, runner up in the WSK Euro Series and CIK-FIA World Cup, and was nominated as the youngest ever WSK Driver of the Year in 2012.

Van Amersfoort Racing was founded in 1975 and finished 3rd in the 2014 F3 Championship with current F1 driver Max Verstappen and 4th in the 2015 F3 Championship with Charles Leclerc. Joining Ilott in the team for the 2016 season will be Pedro Piquet, son of F1 world champion Nelson Piquet and Harrison Newey, son of Red Bull F1 chief technical officer Adrian Newey.