It was recently announced that Olli Caldwell will race in the British F4 Championship this year for the first time with Arden Motorsport. With Olli not turning 15 until June he will be competing in just six of the ten rounds in the Challenge Cup. His first race will be in June at Croft which will make him the youngest ever driver to race in the British F4 Championship!
The Challenge Cup is new for 2017 and is a seven round championship. Drivers in the Challenge Cup can compete in as many rounds as they wish but points will only be taken from their best seven rounds. Keeping this in mind Olli’s six races is going to put him at an immediate disadvantage but that won’t stop him from trying to challenge for a high finish.
It’s hard to say at this moment in time who Olli’s biggest rivals will be throughout the season, but I guess a good place to start is his teammates. Ayrton Simmons may be on overall challenger, but the Arden team contains two fellow Rookie’s in Oscar Piastri and Yves Baltas. Both have experience in single seaters which will make Olli the most inexperienced driver, so if he is able to get near them he’d be doing pretty well!
Other drivers in a similar position to Olli are Luca Allen and fellow YRDA driver Jamie Sharp. There’s no doubt he’d be looking at comparing himself to both as they have also just moved out of karting and Luca has signed up for the Challenge Cup.
Olli had an identical situation in the Ginetta Junior Championship last year when he also joined the series at Croft becoming the youngest driver ever to race a Ginetta Junior.
Similar to last year Olli’s aims this year will certainly be trying to get good finishes in the Challenge Cup. He’ll be pitching himself against other Rookie’s and will hope to improve as the season goes on. Challenge Cup podiums will certainly be a goal and if Olli is able to get near that it’d be seriously impressive!
The tracks Olli will be racing at this year are Croft, Snetterton, Knockhill, Rockingham, Silverstone National and Brands Hatch GP.
Before all that though will be plenty of testing starting this week at Brands Hatch. Olli still has lots to learn with the car and with that in mind may look at this year as a dress rehearsal to a more serious title assault next year!
“I’m really looking forward to competing in F4 this season. It’s going to be a challenge coming in late, but my experience from last year’s Ginetta championship should really help. I have a great team around me both at and away from the circuit and I’ll be pushing for that Challenge Cup title all the way until the end of the season!”