The 25-year-old Briton has been called in to drive Arrow McLaren’s #6 Chevrolet for the IndyCar opener, while Malukas continues to recover from an injured left wrist that required surgery.
The journey to this point has been an interesting one for Ilott. He made 36 IndyCar starts with Juncos Hollinger Racing over the last three seasons, including five top-10 finishes that was highlighted with a best of fifth on two occasions, St. Petersburg and Laguna Seca, in 2023.
That venture came after a brief spell with Formula 1 programmes as a test driver for Ferrari and a reserve driver for Alfa Romeo in 2021.
Despite the promise shown on track over the past few years, Ilott was left without a full-time ride in IndyCar for 2024 and forced to seek other opportunities.
Ultimately, he ended up in the World Endurance Championship driving for Jota Porsche in the Hypercar category, and finished second in the Qatar season-opener last Saturday.
“I felt that maybe it was slightly premature, what happened end of last year,” Ilott said, regarding his time with Juncos.
“It’s life, and you have to find the best situation for yourself and work with that.
“And to be fair, I’m very fortunate to be in a super competitive seat with Hertz Team Jota and hit the ground running on that, and we’re second in the championship, World Endurance Championship, straight away, which is great.
“And then to get the ball rolling in the first weekend of IndyCar with Arrow McLaren, I can’t complain.”
#12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: William Stevens, Callum Ilott, Norman Nato
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
However, the strategic alliance formed between Arrow McLaren and Juncos is a large part of what made this a relatively smooth process.
“When there is, shall we say, some shifts in the market, obviously I had some contact with Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO] to see what was going on,” Ilott said.
“There was the understood kind of development of a partnership between Juncos, and at that point it seemed quite sensible to keep things as it was.
“So, I had that communication established, which is why I think it was quite easy to get the ball rolling to do St. Pete a couple of weeks ago.”
The various challenges of traveling across the Atlantic Ocean due to WEC obligations have made time with Arrow McLaren minimal for Ilott. However, he was able to get some mileage in a pre-season test at Homestead.
“It’s a bit of a discovery process because obviously I did the hybrid test, but I’ve only been in the shop for one or two days now,” Ilott said.
Considering also that this weekend’s team-mate, Pato O’Ward, nearly won this same race last year, what are Ilott’s expectations entering the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit?
“It’s a brand-new year for everyone, so of course you don’t know exactly where to start off,” Ilott said.
“But in the history of Arrow McLaren, they’ve always been very, very strong, and St. Pete last year was also very strong.
Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
“I think there’s all the opportunity to do a good job, but my focus at the end of the day is filling in and doing a solid job and leaving the weekend with no complaints.
“If I can be fast and up there, great. If I can finish the race and get some good points for them, that’s also the goal.
“Let’s see where it goes into FP1, qualifying and then the race.”
While any future chances in IndyCar this year are beyond Ilott’s control, there is a thought to the number of races he can realistically handle without impeding his current commitments in WEC.
“I don’t want to get in the way of anything,” Ilott said. “There’s a lot of preparation up until Le Mans, and I think we have some other tests maybe before COTA later on in the year.
“Of course, it’s convenient that the series only has eight races, so it’s not too strenuous on that side. It’s just a lot of travel.
“I think the calculation I did at the beginning of the year was the possibility to make 11 or 12 IndyCar races if I had to. Of course, that’s a lot of traveling for me to do.
“I’m just going to see what’s convenient on that side. If I have to do 11, 12, that’s what I’ll have to do.
“If I can manage with three, four, five, that’s what I’ll do, as well. I’m just playing it by ear. I don’t think I expected to go to St. Pete about a month ago, so now that’s happening, and I can’t complain.”