James Calado

James Calado
Calado in 2023
Nationality	British
Born	(1989-06-13) 13 June 1989 (age 35) Cropthorne, England, United Kingdom
WEC career
Debut season	2014
Current team	Ferrari AF Corse
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Car number	51
Starts	76
Wins	12
Poles	5
Fastest laps	3
Best finish	1st in 2017, 2021, 2022
Previous series
2012–2013 2011 2010 2009 2008–09 2008 2008 2008	GP2 Series GP3 Series British Formula 3 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 UK FR2.0 Portugal Winter Series FR2.0 UK Winter Series Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Championship titles
2017 2008 2008	GT World Endurance Championship FR2.0 Portugal Winter Series FR2.0 UK Winter Series

James John Calado (born 13 June 1989) is a British professional racing driver from England who is competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Ferrari - AF Corse in the Hypercar class and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He won the LMGTE Pro class of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship and 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans, and overall victory in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. He drove for Panasonic Jaguar Racing in Formula E. His career has been funded by the Racing Steps Foundation.^[1]

Born in Cropthorne, Worcestershire, Calado had an extensive karting career, starting out at Cadets level in 1999. After being a member of the 2000 championship-winning England Inter-Nations Cadet Team, Calado won the British Cadet Championship in 2001, and also finished runner-up to Daniel Rowbottom in the Super 1 Cadet series, losing out by thirteen points. In 2002, Calado stepped up to TKM Juniors, finishing fifth in the Super 1 championship. 2003 saw Calado contest pan-European series for the first time, driving a Gillard Parilla kart for the PDB Racing Team in the ICA Junior class. He finished runner-up to Nicholas Risitano in the European Championship, beating future Formula One drivers Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.

He moved to Tony Kart for the 2004 season, and once again finished in the top three of the European Championship; this time finishing third behind Stefano Coletti and Jules Bianchi. He also finished fifth in the Andrea Margutti Trophy, and ninth in the Italian Open Masters. He moved up to the ICA class in 2005, and won the European Championship ahead of his future team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne, and also finished runner-up to Armando Parente in the Italian Open Masters. He returned to the UK to contest the Renault Elite League in the Super Libre class, finishing seventh in the championship.

Calado moved into the top class of international karting in 2006, moving into the Formula A class. Sixth in the Italian Open Masters, Calado went to Macau for the International Kart Grand Prix, where he finished as runner-up to Michael Christensen. His final season of karting, in 2007, saw his fourth top-five placing in the European Championship, as well as a third-place finish in the Margutti Trophy. He also placed ninth in the South Garda Winter Cup.

Calado moved into the British Formula Renault Championship for the 2008 season, driving for Fortec Motorsport.^[2] With no prior single-seater experience, Calado was placed into the Graduate Cup for first-year drivers. Calado finished runner-up to Dean Stoneman in that championship, and he finished seventh in the overall championship. He took two pole positions at Snetterton and Oulton Park, with one victory coming at Snetterton from that pole. He also earned three other podium placings throughout the season. Calado also contested two rounds of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup at Zolder and Spa-Francorchamps. He earned two top-five finishes en route to finishing 25th in the overall championship standings, amassing 38 points. At the conclusion of the season, Calado enter the Winter Series of both the British and Portuguese Formula Renault championships. Over the two championships' eight total races, Calado took five pole positions, six fastest laps and five victories en route to both championships; holding Henry Surtees off by just three points in the British Winter Series.^[3]

Calado continued in the British series for the 2009 season, staying with Fortec for his sophomore campaign.^[4] Calado and Alpine Motorsport's Stoneman, both in their second season and boasting victories in their début season in the series, with pre-season testing further backing media predictions that the championship would most likely be decided between the pair.^[5] Calado was the most successful driver in the series, taking a total of eight victories, winning races at seven of the championship's ten meetings during the season. He also earned ten pole positions, and set the fastest lap of the race on seven occasions. However, retirements at Thruxton, Oulton Park and Croft took the title out of the hands of Calado and into the hands of Dean Smith, who joined the series at the second round of the championship. Calado ultimately finished as runner-up behind Smith, 34 points behind the Wolverhampton driver. Calado also contested three rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 for Fortec, competing in Barcelona, Spa and Le Mans. He finished seventeenth in the championship, amassing ten points from a fifth in Barcelona and seventh at Spa. He lost a podium finish at Barcelona due to a puncture with two laps remaining,^[6] which could have ultimately turned into a win after the post-race disqualification of winner Albert Costa.^[7]

Calado moved into the British Formula 3 Championship for the 2010 season, as part of a six-car title challenge by Carlin.^[1] He was the second RSF-funded driver to drive for the team, after Oliver Turvey finished runner-up in the 2008 championship. He took five victories to finish second in the championship, behind runaway leader Jean-Éric Vergne.

Calado moved up to the GP3 Series for 2011, driving for the Lotus ART team alongside Pedro Nunes, Richie Stanaway and Valtteri Bottas. In a successful season for ART, Bottas won the championship whilst Calado backed him up with second in the drivers' standings, taking a single win at Valencia and five further podium finishes. ART also won the teams' championship.

Calado made his GP2 Series début by driving for ART in the non-championship race at Yas Marina which concluded the 2011 season. He had a victorious race in the sprint race, the second race of the weekend. He joined the Lotus-branded team full-time for the 2012 season, alongside second-year driver Esteban Gutiérrez.^[8] He continued his form from the non-championship race by winning the sprint race of the first round of the season in Malaysia. After taking pole positions for the Spanish rounds at Catalunya and Valencia, but not being able to convert them into victories, he won his second race of the season at Hockenheim. At this stage of the championship, he was third in the drivers' standings, but a poor run in the final four races—after crashing in practice at Monza and suffering from food poisoning in Singapore saw him overhauled by team-mate Gutiérrez and compatriot Max Chilton. Nevertheless, his fifth place in the championship meant that he finished the season as the series' most successful rookie driver, ahead of Felipe Nasr in tenth position. Autosport magazine rated Calado as the GP2 season's best driver, due to his inexperience compared to the drivers who finished ahead of him in the championship.^[9]

Lotus GP became ART once again for the 2013 season and he was joined by rookie Daniel Abt. A consistent season saw him claim two sprint race wins and another five podiums meant he finished third in the standings on 157 points but quite a distance behind the top two Fabio Leimer and Sam Bird.

Partway through the 2013 season, Formula One team Force India selected him for the Young Driver's test in July, held at Silverstone.^[10] He had a successful test, setting the fourth fastest time on the first day.^[10] As a result of this, and his good GP2 form, Force India announced that they had selected Calado as their third driver for the Italian Grand Prix on 2 September 2013, and that he would run in the first practice session.^[11]

In June 2019, Calado partook in testing sessions with Panasonic Jaguar Racing.^[12]

On 2 October 2019, it was announced that Calado would partner Mitch Evans in the Panasonic Jaguar team, replacing Alex Lynn.^[13]

He made his debut with the team at the 2019 Diriyah ePrix, crashing during qualifying for the first race & finishing 16th. He struggled during qualifying the following day but showed excellent race pace & in a race of attrition stayed out of the carnage to record his first points in 7th. He continued his points-scoring form at the next race in Santiago, where he finished in 8th. He would have finished in 9th at the 2020 Mexico City ePrix, but was later disqualified for a technical issue. He lacked pace in Marrakesh despite qualifying well & dropped to 16th position.

For 2014, Calado joined Italian Davide Rigon at AF Corse, making his debut at the 6 Hours of Silverstone where the pair finished in 5th position behind their teammates, Finn Toni Vilander and Italian Gianmaria Bruni. Calado and Rigon celebrated a podium in the second race of the season at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. For Calado it was his first podium in sports cars. For 2016 he joins Italian Gianmaria Bruni.

In 2017 is joined by Alessandro Pier Guidi and won the world championship. In 2019 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans together with Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra behind the wheel of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. In 2021 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second time, together with Pier Guidi and Ledogar

He made his debut in 2016 24 Hours of Daytona with the Ferrari 488 GTE of SMP Racing and take part in some selected races in following years, all with Risi Competizione. He won the 2016 and 2019 Petit Le Mans with the 488 GTE and scored podiums at 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring

Going into the 2023 season, Calado would join the Ferrari Hypercar project run by AF Corse, competing in the WEC with a Ferrari 499P alongside Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi.^[14] With a third place at Spa, where Calado overtook Frédéric Makowiecki on the final lap, and a victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans — Ferrari's first in 50 years — the #51 crew finished fourth in the standings, being beaten to third by the sister car.^[15][16]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicates fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2015	AF Corse	Davide Rigon Olivier Beretta	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	GTE Pro	332	21st	2nd
2016	AF Corse	Gianmaria Bruni Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GTE	GTE Pro	179	DNF	DNF
2017	AF Corse	Michele Rugolo Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GTE	GTE Pro	312	46th	11th
2018	AF Corse	Daniel Serra Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	GTE Pro	339	22nd	7th
2019	AF Corse	Daniel Serra Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	GTE Pro	342	20th	1st
2020	AF Corse	Daniel Serra Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	GTE Pro	346	21st	2nd
2021	AF Corse	Côme Ledogar Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	GTE Pro	345	20th	1st
2022	AF Corse	Alessandro Pier Guidi Daniel Serra	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	GTE Pro	350	29th	2nd
2023	Ferrari AF Corse	Antonio Giovinazzi Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 499P	Hypercar	342	1st	1st
2024	Ferrari AF Corse	Antonio Giovinazzi Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 499P	Hypercar	311	3rd	3rd

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• Official website
• James Calado career summary at DriverDB.com