James Calado

At 35 years old, James Calado has this physical status:

James John Calado (born 13 June 1989) is a British professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other prestigious GT races for AF Corse.

The Racing Steps Foundation supports Panasonic Racing in Formula E.

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Career

Calado was born in Cropthorne, Worcestershire, and began karting at an early age, beginning at Cadets in 1999. Calado won the British Cadet Championship in 2001 and finished second-up to Daniel Rowbottom in the Super 1 Cadet series, losing by thirteen points. Calado made it to TKM Juniors in 2002, finishing fifth in the Super 1 championship. For the first time, Calado participated in the pan-European series for the first time, propelling a Gillard Parilla kart for the PDB Racing Team in the ICA Junior category. In the European Championship, he came in second, defeating future Formula One racers Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.

He returned to Tony Kart for the 2004 season and placed second in the top three of the European Championship, this time finishing third, behind Stefano Coletti and Jules Bianchi. He also placed fifth in the Andrea Margutti Trophy and ninth in the Italian Open Masters. He joined the ICA in 2005 and won the European Championship ahead of his future teammate Jean-Éric Vergne, who was runner-up to Armando Parente in the Italian Open Masters. He returned to the United Kingdom to compete in the Renault Elite League in the Super Libre class, finishing eighth in the championship.

Calado debuted in the Formula A class of international karting in 2006, and then went into the Formula A class. Calado's sixth place in the Italian Open Masters, where he came runner-up to Michael Christensen in Macau. His fourth top-five finish in the European Championships, as well as a third-place finish in the Margutti Trophy, were among his final years of karting in 2007. In addition, he finished ninth in the South Garda Winter Cup.

Calado entered the British Formula Renault Championship for the 2008 season, driving for Fortec Motorsports. Calado was accepted into the Graduate Cup for first-year drivers with no prior single-seater experience. Calado finished second in the overall championship behind Dean Stoneman. He took pole positions at Snetterton and Oulton Park, with one victory coming from that pole at Snetterton. He has also earned three other podium appearances over the season. At Zolder and Spa-Francorchamps, Calado also competed in two rounds of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. He gained two top-five finishes on his way to finishing 25th in the overall championship standings, amassing 38 points. Calado's Winter Series features both the British and Portuguese Formula Renault championships at the end of the season. Calado won five pole positions, six fastest laps, and five titles over the two championship series; the British Winter Series ended with only three points for Henry Surtees.

Calado continued in the British series in the 2009 season, while Fortec continued his service with Fortec in his sophomore year. Both Calado and Stoneman's second season and winning in their debut in the series, with pre-season testing further backing media assertions that the championship will be decided between the two teams. Calado was the most competitive driver in the series, winning races at seven of the championship's ten meetings during the season. He also earned ten pole positions and led the fastest lap of the season on seven occasions. However, Thruxton, Oulton Park, and Croft's retirements took the title from Calado's hands and into the hands of Dean Smith, who joined the competition in the second round. Calado's final result was runner-up behind Smith, 34 points behind the Wolverhampton driver. Fortec's three rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 for Fortec were also played in Barcelona, Spa, and Le Mans. He finished seventeenth in the championship, down ten points from a fifth in Barcelona and seventh at Spa. He missed out on a podium finish in Barcelona due to a puncture with two laps remaining, which may have turned into a victory after the post-race disqualification of winner Albert Costa.

Calado began racing in the British Formula 3 Championship for the 2010 season as part of Carlin's six-car championship challenge. After Oliver Turvey finished second in the 2008 championship, he was the second RSF-funded driver to drive for the team. He won five races to finish second in the championship, behind runaway champion Jean-Éric Vergne.

Calado joined the Lotus ART team in 2011 for the Lotus ART project, as well as Pedro Nunes, Richie Stanaway, and Valtteri Bottas. Bottas won the championship in a fruitful season for ART, while Calado backed him up with second place in the drivers' standings, winning a single time at Valencia and five others, leading to a single win and five more podium finishes. The ART team also won the team's championship.

Calado made his GP2 Series debut by playing for ART in the non-championship competition at Yas Marina, which concluded in 2011. In the sprint run, he had a fruitful run, his second best race of the weekend. Esteban Gutiérrez, a second-year driver, joined the Lotus-branded team full-time in the 2012 season. He continued his form from the non-championship contest by winning the sprint competition in Malaysia's first round. He won his second race of the season at Hockenheim after being ranked pole positions in the Spanish rounds at Catalunya and Valencia but not being able to convert them into victories. He came third in the drivers' standings at this point, but he had a rough run in the final four races after being injured in practice at Monza and suffering from food poisoning in Singapore, and compatriot Max Chilton had him overhauled by teammate Gutiérrez and compatriot Max Chilton. Nevertheless, his fifth appearance in the championship meant he finished the season as the series's most popular rookie driver, ahead of Felipe Nasr in tenth place. Calado was rated as the best rider in the GP2 season by a autosport magazine, owing to his inexperience compared to the drivers who came after him in the championship.

For the 2013 season, Lotus GP returned to his roots, with rookie Daniel Abt leading the team. He won two sprint races and another five podiums, finishing third in the standings on 157 points but a long way behind top two Fabio Leimer and Sam Bird.

Formula One Team Force India selected him for the Young Driver's Challenge in July, which was held at Silverstone halfway through the 2013 season. He had a good run on the first day, posting his fourth fastest time on the first day. Force India reported on September 2nd that Calado had been selected as their third driver for the Italian Grand Prix, as a result of this and his excellent GP2 results, and that he would fly in the first practice session.

Calado took part in testing sessions with Panasonic Jaguar Racing in June 2019.

Calado would partner Mitch Evans in the Panasonic Jaguar team on October 2nd, replacing Alex Lynn.

He made his debut with the team at the 2019 Diriyah ePrix, crashing during qualifying for the first time and finishing 16th. He struggled during qualifying the day after but showed fantastic race speed & remained out of the carnage to win his first points in 7th. At the next run in Santiago, where he finished 8th, he continued his points-scoring form. He would have ranked in 9th at the 2020 Mexico City ePrix, but was later disqualified due to a technical issue. Despite qualifying well and falling to 16th position in Marrakesh, he lacks energy in Marrakesh.

Calado joined Italian Davide Rigon at AF Corse in 2014, making his debut at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, where the pair finished in fifth position behind their teammates Finn Toni Vilander and Italian Gianmaria Bruni. In the second race of the season, Calado and Rigon set a podium, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. It was his first podium appearance in sportcars for Calado. He is a member of Gianmaria Bruni of Italy.

Alessandro Pier Guidi has joined the world championship in 2017 and has won the world championship. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra in 2019 and was behind the wheel of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. For the second time, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second time, along with Pier Guidi and Ledogar.

He made his debut in 2016 24 Hours of Daytona with Ferrari 488 GTE of SMP Racing and later competed in some select races in subsequent years, all with Risi Competizione. With the 488 GTE and scoring podiums at 24 Hours of Sebring, he claimed the 2016 and 2019 Petit Le Mans.

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