Callum Ilott secured a sprint-race podium finish as he enjoyed a successful third round in the FIA Formula Two Championship in Hungary
Callum Ilott secured a sprint-race podium finish as he enjoyed a successful third round in the FIA Formula Two Championship in Hungary.
The 21-year-old former Bishop's Stortford College student is now clear in second place in the standings, 20 points better off than third-placed Christian Lundgaard and 18 behind championship leader Robert Shwartzman.
Ilott was fastest in qualifying at the Hungaroring in Budapest with a lap of 1min 50.767sec in wet conditions, but an early pitstop cost him a strong result in Saturday's feature race and he finished eighth.
That put the UNI-Virtuosi Racing driver on reverse-grid pole for Sunday's sprint race and, after deciding to pit, chased down the leaders to finish half a second behind winner Luca Ghiotto (Hitech Grand Prix).
"It was getting close at the end. I was loving it, but also it was frustrating to have come so close by that point," said Ilott, who heads to Silverstone for the fourth round next weekend (July 31-August 2).
"We didn't plan to box at all. I think Ghiotto would still have been ahead because we lost five seconds in our pit stop. But what a race! It was good fun."