Ilott targets F3 title after Prema switch

British racer Callum Ilott has targeted the European Formula 3 Championship title after agreeing a switch to dominant outfit Prema Powerteam for the 2017 season.

Eighteen-year-old Ilott ( below) was sixth in the championship this year, scoring two wins, and will move from Van Amersfoort Racing to the Prema team for his third season in the category.

Prema sealed its fourth championship in as many years in 2016, with Williams F1 new boy Lance Stroll joining Raffaele Marciello, Esteban Ocon and Felix Rosenqvist as driver champions with the Italian team.

With Prema the established dominant force in the championship, Ilott said the switch left him wellplaced for a tilt at the 2017 title. “Prema’s record is impeccable, and having decided to return to F3 it was the team I focused on joining,” he said. “Just walking around the factory, the family feeling you get with the Italian teams from my karting days came flooding back, and with its successful GP2 squad. “It’s also a team that offers the chance to climb the ladder to F1. “We looked at all the possibilities for 2017: GP3, Indy Lights as well as GP2, but in the end, with only two years of car racing experience, another year in F3 made the most sense.”