Ilott, a former Red Bull junior, finished 12th in the championship last year, having joined Carlin's F3 squad straight out of karting.

With three rounds to go in his second season, now with Van Amersfoort Racing, Ilott is fifth in the standings, 113 points off championship leader Lance Stroll.

Regarding his plans for next year, Ilott told Motorsport.com: "You never know until it comes to the winter, really. I think I’ll take any opportunities I can get.

"GP3 is not too bad on money, but you don’t get as much racing, you are racing 7 o’clock in the morning and then at 6.30 at night. But it is a respectable championship.

"It depends on where I finish in the [F3] championship as well this year, because if I finish fourth or something like that, or third, I'll feel like I have to come back and try and do my best again next year.

"And also money - I would love to go and do GP2 next year but money is not something that grows on trees for your standard racing drivers. There are a few guys who can do it, but it's quite difficult.

"So I'd quite like to do something alongside F3, like Nick Cassidy is doing with the Super GT. Something alongside where I can gage the experience with sportscars, LMP or something like that, would be nice."

Missed chances

While content with the progress made between his rookie and sophomore campaigns, Ilott reckons the 113-point deficit to the championship leader is not representative.

"The thing is, we [Van Amersfoort Racing] are not bad, I think we had a lot of bad luck," he said. "I had four times a 10 places [grid penalty] for engine - and there's some of the other little issues we've had.

"In Norisring [with three grid penalties], that was a potential 75 points and I managed to get 12, something like that, out of that round.

"It's really frustrating, but I think the good thing is we had race wins, podiums, the speed has always been there."

Ilott had sat runner-up in the standings after May's Spielberg round, with two wins to his name, but has since slipped behind Maxi Gunther, George Russell and Nick Cassidy.

"Besides the Hungaroring, where we've generally really struggle with the tyres, there hasn’t been a race weekend where we have not been top-five," added the 17-year-old.

"So, in terms of speed, it’s been quite consistent, just struggling with a bit of luck.

"I was at the top end at the beginning of the season, it’s hard but it’s always going to be sometimes [like that], it is better I have it now and not, say, if I'm doing GP2 or something like that."

Interview by Filip Cleeren