Ferrari's Ilott says ART team-mate Hubert deserves to win GP3 title
Ferrari protege Callum Ilott says his ART Grand Prix team-mate Anthoine Hubert deserves to win the 2018 GP3 Series title


Hubert leads fellow ART driver Nikita Mazepin by 32 points going into the Yas Marina season finale this weekend, while third-placed Ilott fell out of mathematical contention for the title during the penultimate round at Sochi.
The 22-year-old Hubert, who was taken under the wing of the Renault Formula 1 team this season, partnered Ilott at Van Amersfoort Racing in the Formula 3 European Championship in 2016 before moving to GP3 with ART last year.
Ilott remained in F3 last season, but his move to GP3 in 2018 meant another link-up with the Frenchman.
"Yes, he's done a really good job this year," Ilott told Autosport when asked whether Hubert would make a worthy champion.
"Obviously experience helps, I can see that now, but he's just always been there, always done a good job on little things.
"Like the reversed-grid races - he always gains one more position than me and little things like that just add up.
"Other than the Red Bull Ring, he's done a very consistent job, which is impressive - I thought he would have struggled at some points a bit more, but he's always been there.
"He knows what he wants in the car, knows how to get the last little bits out of it, so fair play to him - I think in Abu Dhabi he'll win the championship, because 32 points [advantage] is quite hard to beat."

Ilott said that his own performance this season was an inverse of his F3 campaigns in 2016 and '17, where he was one of the fastest drivers but lacked consistency.
"Obviously going to a championship like that with a team like ART, you expect a good result, and it [third] is not a bad result at all," he said.
"The last two rounds have been a bit disappointing - at Monza I got the disqualification when I finished P3 [due to a tyre-pressure infringement], and Sochi was just a disaster of a weekend, and I'm still not exactly sure why.
"Up until that, the season was really consistent, and I was really happy with the performance and progress that I was making.
"It's strange, going from the top guy in qualifying in F3 [Ilott scored more pole positions than champion Lando Norris in 2017] to really struggling in quali relative to my team-mates here, but I've learned a lot, especially with the tyres.
"Everyone told me after last year I needed consistency, and the one thing I had this year was consistency and that's still not enough to win the championship."
After three years in F3 and one in GP3, Ilott is aiming to step up to Formula 2 next season.
"The plan is to do F2 and make a mark in that," he said.

F3 race-winner Jehan Daruvala joins GP3 with MP for Abu Dhabi
Ferrari F1 juniors tipped for Prema seats in new FIA F3 series

Latest news
20 years on: Porsche’s 911 GT Daytona 24 Hours giant-killing relived
IMSA’s new GTP class for LMDh cars had a more auspicious debut last weekend than the Daytona Prototypes that arrived in 2003. Back then, they were humbled by a GT Porsche 911, which won the Floridian sportscar classic by nine laps.
Entries open for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award story
Entries have opened for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award, with budding motorsport engineers invited to apply for the revamped prize.
What really happened when F1 drivers went on strike?
Being a Formula 1 driver is one of those dream jobs, but that doesn't mean everything always runs smoothly.
Lack of job security could hold Vasseur back at Ferrari, says Montoya
A lack of job security is a big negative that could hurt new Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur's ability to do his job, reckons former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya.
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
The ladder to F1 never gets any less slippery. But a strong cast of Formula 3 and Formula 2 aces proved sure of foot as they continued their climbs in 2022
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
The announcement that FIA Formula 2 and 3 would race alongside the Australian Grand Prix from 2023 came as a surprise, not only to fans but to the series’ teams too. But with Formula 1’s boom in popularity bringing more fans to the championships, team principals are relishing the opportunity
Why the Formula 3 benchmark's 2022 season hinges on qualifying
Prema Racing has long dominated FIA Formula 3, taking the teams’ title in two of the past three seasons. But its start to 2022 has been trickier than usual, and the answers lie in its qualifying performance
How the ultra-tight F3 title fight is taking shape
With just five points separating the top five after two rounds, FIA Formula 3 looks set for another thrilling season in 2022. But who stands the best chance of pulling away from that pack, and who are the contenders bubbling under?
The F3 newcomer making good on his unusual career path
Joining the FIA Formula 3 grid as a rookie with a team new to the series could prove daunting for most, but then there aren't many drivers who have the extensive experience Franco Colapinto brings from his time racing sportscars. The Argentinian explains how his LMP2 experience is already helping him in 2022
The British trio hunting for F3 title glory
The 2022 FIA Formula 3 season kicks off this weekend in Bahrain. British trio Zak O’Sullivan, Ollie Bearman and Jonny Edgar have all become proteges of Formula 1 teams, and are talents to watch this year
How an outsider demolished a rank of F1 juniors
His career has been a slowburner but Gregoire Saucy trounced a collection of F1 juniors in Formula Regional by Alpine last year, and now he’s preparing to do it again in FIA F3. Here’s how the Swiss caught the world by surprise in 2021 and how he plans to do it all over again
Ranking the top 10 F2 and F3 drivers of 2021
With a veritable feast of feeder series talent in 2021, FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 produced some of its most exciting racing yet. Although Prema Racing drivers once again dominated the respective series, drivers from other teams also stole the limelight to mark themselves out as stars of the future, or validate their highly-regarded standing
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.