British driver James Calado worked his way up through the European single seater formulae, with his most recent endeavours in the GP3 series and the next step up, GP2. He participated in a young driver test day or two with Force India, before being signed as reserve driver to the team for the second half of the 2013 season.

F1 biography

James Calado has been working with the Racing Steps Foundation to make his way in the world of motorsport, with help getting in to the Formula Three and Formula Renault series'. From there, Calado moved to GP3, where he drove for the Lotus ART team and scored one win in Spain.

GP2 was next on the cards, and James joined the series in 2011, driving initially for the Lotus team before moving back to more familiar ground with ART for 2013. He finished fifth in the championship in his first season, with a couple of race victories and a handful of podiums to his name.

In the middle of 2013, Calado participated in the Young Driver Test at Silverstone with the Force India F1 team, and impressed enough to be snapped up by the outfit as reserve driver for the remainder of the season. He made his F1 debut in a practice session at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Without a spare F1 seat to aim for, Calado moved to endurance racing instead.