James Calado: From Cadet Karting to Le Mans Winner and Ferrari Hypercar Champion

James Calado is a British professional racing driver from Worcestershire who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Ferrari and AF Corse in the Hypercar class. He has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, most recently overall in 2023, and he won the 2025 WEC Hypercar championship. Before sportscars he raced in GP2 and drove in Formula E for Panasonic Jaguar Racing.

Who is James Calado?

James John Calado was born on 13 June 1989. He was raised in Cropthorne, Worcestershire, and his career has been supported by the Racing Steps Foundation, which funded his progress through the junior categories.

He has spent most of his professional life in the Ferrari family of teams. Since 2014 he has raced for AF Corse, the Italian team that runs Ferrari's works-backed sportscar programmes, and his career record reflects that long association.

From a Worcestershire cadet kart to three Le Mans wins and a Hypercar world title with Ferrari, Calado's career is built on endurance.

How did Calado start in karting?

Calado began in karting at Cadets level in 1999 and became part of the England Inter-Nations Cadet Team that won the championship in 2000. He won the British Cadet Championship in 2001, and he finished runner-up to Daniel Rowbottom in the Super 1 Cadet series by thirteen points.

In 2002 he stepped up to TKM Juniors and finished fifth in the Super 1 championship. The next year he took his first pan-European campaign, in the ICA Junior class with the PDB Racing Team, and finished runner-up to Nicholas Risitano in the European Championship.

Those results put him ahead of future Formula One drivers Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.

Calado moved to Tony Kart in 2004 and finished third in the European Championship behind Stefano Coletti and Jules Bianchi. In 2005 he moved up to the ICA class and won the European title ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne, who later became a title rival in British Formula 3.

In 2004 he had also finished fifth in the Andrea Margutti Trophy and ninth at the Italian Open Masters. In 2005 he was runner-up to Armando Parente at the Italian Open Masters, and he returned to the UK for the Renault Elite League in the Super Libre class, where he finished seventh in the championship.

In 2006 he was also sixth in the Italian Open Masters, and in 2007 he placed ninth in the South Garda Winter Cup.

In 2006 he moved into the top international karting class, Formula A, and finished runner-up to Michael Christensen at the International Kart Grand Prix in Macau. His final karting season was 2007, which brought a fourth top-five placing in the European Championship and a third in the Margutti Trophy.

What did Calado win in single-seater racing?

Calado moved into British Formula Renault with Fortec Motorsport in 2008. With no single-seater experience, he was placed in the Graduate Cup for first-year drivers, and he finished as runner-up to Dean Stoneman in that cup and seventh overall in the championship.

He took two poles, at Snetterton and Oulton Park, and a win at Snetterton from pole. Over the two winter series that followed, he took five poles, six fastest laps and five victories, and he held off Henry Surtees by three points in the British Winter Series.

He earned three other podium finishes that season.

In the Northern European Cup he made two appearances, at Zolder and Spa, and collected two top-five results on the way to 25th in that championship.

In 2009 he was the most successful driver in the British series, winning eight races and taking ten poles. Retirements at Thruxton, Oulton Park and Croft cost him the title, and he finished runner-up to Dean Smith, who had joined at the second round, 34 points behind.

He also contested three rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 for Fortec, at Barcelona, Spa and Le Mans, and he finished 17th with ten points. At Barcelona a puncture with two laps remaining cost him a podium, which could have become a win after the winner was disqualified.

He made his step to British Formula 3 in 2010 as part of a six-car challenge from Carlin, and he took five victories on the way to second overall behind Jean-Eric Vergne. The season was a clear sign that he could win consistently against a strong field.

Calado was the second RSF-funded driver in the team, following Oliver Turvey, who had been runner-up in 2008.

In 2011 he moved up to the GP3 Series with Lotus ART, partnering Pedro Nunes, Richie Stanaway and Valtteri Bottas. Bottas won the championship, but Calado finished second in the standings with one win at Valencia and five further podiums. ART also won the teams' title.

How did Calado perform in GP2?

Calado made his GP2 debut in the non-championship race at Yas Marina at the end of 2011, where he won the sprint race. He joined Lotus full-time for 2012, alongside Esteban Gutierrez, and he won the sprint race at the opening round in Malaysia.

He took pole for the Spanish rounds at Catalunya and Valencia without converting them into victories, but he won again at Hockenheim. A poor run at the end of the season, including a crash in practice at Monza and food poisoning in Singapore, dropped him to fifth in the championship.

Even so, he finished as the series' most successful rookie, ahead of Felipe Nasr in tenth. Autosport magazine rated him the best driver of the GP2 season, because of his inexperience compared with the drivers who finished ahead of him.

For 2013 he moved to ART, which was once again the Lotus-branded operation, and was joined by rookie Daniel Abt. He claimed two sprint race wins and five further podiums, and he finished third in the standings with 157 points.

Did Calado drive a Formula One car?

He did not race in Formula One, but he came close. Partway through the 2013 season he took part in the Young Driver's test for Force India at Silverstone in July, where he set the fourth fastest time on the first day.

On 2 September 2013 Force India announced that Calado would be its third driver for the Italian Grand Prix, and that he would take part in the first practice session at Monza.

How did Calado perform in Formula E?

In June 2019 Calado tested with Panasonic Jaguar Racing. On 2 October 2019 the team announced that he would partner Mitch Evans, replacing Alex Lynn.

He made his debut at the 2019 Diriyah ePrix, where he crashed in qualifying and finished sixteenth. The next day he showed good race pace, stayed out of the carnage in a race of attrition, and scored his first points in seventh place.

He continued his scoring form at Santiago with eighth place. He would have finished ninth at the 2020 Mexico City ePrix but was later disqualified for a technical issue, and in Marrakesh he qualified well but lacked pace and dropped to sixteenth.

How did Calado's sportscar career develop?

He joined Davide Rigon at AF Corse in 2014, making his debut at the 6 Hours of Silverstone where the pair finished fifth. Their second race at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps brought a podium, his first in sportscars.

In 2016 he partnered Gianmaria Bruni at AF Corse and made his IMSA debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona with SMP Racing in a Ferrari 488 GTE. He later raced selected IMSA events with Risi Competizione, and he won the Petit Le Mans in 2016 and again in 2019.

He also scored podiums at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring with Risi Competizione.

In 2017 he was joined by Alessandro Pier Guidi at AF Corse, and the pair won the World Endurance Championship that season. The title came in the LMGTE Pro class.

He has also shown speed at Le Mans. In 2019 he won the race with Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, and in 2021 he won again with Pier Guidi and Ledogar.

Did Calado win the 2023 Le Mans race overall?

Yes. Calado won the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans overall, driving the Ferrari 499P Hypercar alongside Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi. It was Ferrari's first overall Le Mans victory in 50 years.

He had joined the Ferrari Hypercar project run by AF Corse at the start of that season, and he had taken third at Spa, where he overtook Frederic Makowiecki on the final lap. The Le Mans win came as the No. 51 crew finished fourth in the overall championship, with the sister car taking third.

Did Calado win a world championship in Hypercar?

He did. Alongside Pier Guidi and Giovinazzi, Calado won the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship drivers' and manufacturers' titles with Ferrari in the Hypercar class.

The title added to his 2017 world championship in the LMGTE Pro class.

James Calado career summary