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Sauber Junior Team by Charouz driver Callum Ilott sixth in Macau Grand Prix




Callum Ilott came sixth in the Macau Grand Prix when he drove the new Formula 3 car for the first time.

Despite a lack of preparation, the former Bishop's Stortford College student secured third spot in qualifying before slipping a couple of places to come fifth in the qualification race.

A slow start in the Grand Prix saw the Sauber Junior Team by Charouz driver fall to ninth, but he recovered well to end the race in sixth.

CIRCUITO DA GUIA, MACAU - NOVEMBER 14: Callum ILOTT (GBR, SAUBER JUNIOR TEAM BY CHAROUZ) during the Macau GP at Circuito da Guia on November 14, 2019 in Circuito da Guia, Macau. (Photo by Joe Portlock) (22126350)
CIRCUITO DA GUIA, MACAU - NOVEMBER 14: Callum ILOTT (GBR, SAUBER JUNIOR TEAM BY CHAROUZ) during the Macau GP at Circuito da Guia on November 14, 2019 in Circuito da Guia, Macau. (Photo by Joe Portlock) (22126350)

"Heading to Macau, I had never driven the car before and I didn't even get to test it - I didn't even get to do a simulator run as all my flights got cancelled, so it was always going to be an interesting challenge and I was really pleased to secure P3 in qualifying," said Ilott, who is due to complete his F2 campaign in the United Arab Emirates this weekend.

"I got an alright start in the qualification race, considering it was the first one I have done in this car, and only fell back one position. I held fourth for a while and the pace was good in the middle part of the race.

"I then made a small mistake, so from then on I took it really conservatively and ended up in fifth at the chequered flag.

CIRCUITO DA GUIA, MACAU - NOVEMBER 15: Robert SHWARTZMAN (RUS, SJM Prema Theodore Racing), Juri VIPS (EST, Hitech Grand Prix), Callum ILOTT (GBR, SAUBER JUNIOR TEAM BY CHAROUZ) during the Macau GP at Circuito da Guia on November 15, 2019 in Circuito da Guia, Macau. (Photo by Joe Portlock) (22126352)
CIRCUITO DA GUIA, MACAU - NOVEMBER 15: Robert SHWARTZMAN (RUS, SJM Prema Theodore Racing), Juri VIPS (EST, Hitech Grand Prix), Callum ILOTT (GBR, SAUBER JUNIOR TEAM BY CHAROUZ) during the Macau GP at Circuito da Guia on November 15, 2019 in Circuito da Guia, Macau. (Photo by Joe Portlock) (22126352)

"I didn't get the best of starts for the Grand Prix and that meant I lost a lot on the long run down to Lisboa. I was down to P8 or P9, unfortunately. We managed to come back a bit from there and the pace was pretty good.

"We changed a lot on the car after the qualification race and it did work out. But I lost a bit of time from the virtual safety car and trying to work back from that was quite difficult.

"The team did a good job all weekend so a big thank you to them."



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