It has just been announced that Olli Caldwell will race for the Prema Powerteam in 2018 as he prepares to compete in a full campaign of both the Italian and ADAC F4 Championships!
Their records across both championships are outstanding, that combined with their rich history in the sport makes them the number one choice for any young driver. It’s exciting news and sets up a big season ahead for the 15-year-old.
The Prema team was founded back in 1983 and in it’s 35-year history has produced many successful and professional drivers. Their sole focus since formation has been
single seater racing and as the team grew they quickly became successful on an international competing in ten different single seater championships. Starting from F4 and going all the way up to the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Currently Prema have focused on four championships which also includes the FIA F3 European Championship creating a route for it’s drivers to progress all the way to Formula One. Many Prema drivers have made it to the very top of Motorsport including; Robert Kubica, Valterri Bottas, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Kamui Kobayashi, Lucas Di Grassi and 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve!
Their statistics in both the Italian and ADAC F4 Championships speak for themselves! In the Italian F4 Championship, Prema have won both three drivers and teams championships in the series’ four-year history making them the most dominant force by far. As for ADAC they have also been successful with two team’s titles and one drivers title since the series was formed in 2014. In it’s history overall, Prema have a total of 22 driver’s championships in the cabinet and 14 team’s championships. With the team getting stronger and stronger they’ll be certainly looking to add to that this year!
It’s safe to say Olli is going to be in good hands for his first full campaign in both championships and after some impressive performances last year he won’t be looking to make up the numbers! With the announcement that Olli has parted company with Arden’s Young Racing Driver Academy (YRDA) late last year there’s every chance F1 teams will already have their eyes on him. Prema have been supported by several teams over the years which include Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault F1, Honda, Lotus F1 and Toyota. So, watch this space!
Both championships will consist of seven rounds with Olli set to visit tracks including Monza, Nurburgring, Hockenheim, Red Bull Ring, Misano, Mugello and for the first time the Paul Ricard circuit in France. It’s an exciting calendar and the grids are both expected to be fiercely competitive, last season saw 38 drivers compete in the Italian championship and 33 in the German. For Olli, he raced at all but two rounds of last year’s Italian F4 series, but only two in the German F4 so he will be racing at a number of tracks for the very first time!
“I am extremely excited to be working with Prema for my 2018 season and am really looking forward to what I can achieve with such a great team. This is an amazing chance to make my International breakthrough and, with their superb on-track record, I can’t wait to be back on track to make it happen!”
“We look forward to working with Olli this season. In addition to his driving skills, he already has a good amount of experience with different cars and environments. That’s quite impressive considering he is only 15. He has all that it takes to impress in 2018 - I can’t wait to see our team on-track to start preparations for the season ahead.”
Olli’s first race of the season will be on the 13th-15th April at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben for the first round of the ADAC F4 Championship. His Italian F4 campaign will start two weeks later at the Adria International Raceway. Preparations are already underway in what could be a very big year for Olli!