William Calleja signs with Ricky Flynn Motorsport, who guided Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to F1
At just 12 years old a Melbourne-karter has already achieved something Oscar Piastri couldn’t. Now, he has signed the deal of a lifetime and is eyeing a Formula 1 future. Meet our new speed demon.
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A young Australian go kart star is on the fast track to a Formula 1 future after signing a lucrative deal with an international team which has produced the likes of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Melbourne karter William Calleja, 12, has signed with Ricky Flynn Motorsport, a British-based team which has been the starting point for world class drivers who have aspirations to compete in Formula One for more than a decade.
William, who grew up in South Melbourne before moving to Italy, is embracing the challenge and the pressure as he looks to make it to the top.
Fellow Melburnian Piastri learned his way with the same karting team before winning the Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships on his way to McLaren in F1.
Jack Doohan, who will debut in F1 next year with Alpine, also raced for the team with other F1 drivers including Norris, Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant.
“Ever since I arrived in Europe in 2021, I always admired the team and the success with the drivers like Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri,” William told this masthead.
“When they decided to call me on board to race with them I was very excited as I admired the team.”
While some young guns struggle with the expectations of performance when put in the spotlight, Calleja is not one of them.
Instead, he knows this is his ticket to the big time.
“I don’t really have any pressure at all,” he said.
“It excites me and influences me even more because I can see they’ve done really well.
“With this team, I don’t feel pressure anymore.
“It just makes me feel better and feel this is the right decision.”
The journey to get to one of the top karting teams in the world has involved sacrifice for the 12-year-old.
The Oakleigh and Todd Road kart club member started his journey in the Philippines at the age of five before his family moved back to Melbourne a year later.
He then competed in the Cadet 9 and Cadet 12 championships around Australia before Covid lockdowns in Melbourne in 2021 forced the team to make the bold call to move overseas and race.
William’s mother Sam Calleja said the risk to move to Europe was vindicated almost immediately.
“We took him to his first race in Italy and he was kind of doing purple sectors (fast laps),” she said.
“He’d never been on the track and it was against these kids in Europe who had been racing for many years.
“We thought he’s got some talent, and he loves it, so we committed to moving here.”
Since then Calleja and his mother have been overseas with his father and sister still based in Melbourne.
The move paid instant dividends with Calleja finishing second in the Italy series in the Mini GR3 category in 2023.
This year he became the first Australian to win a Winning Series Karting (WSK) title, claiming the WSK Super Masters Series in the mini category.
It’s an achievement not even Piastri could manage during his career. He won a round in the series, but never the whole series itself.
Calleja’s feats have attracted attention and help from national champion and karting legend David Sera, renowned kart supplier Parolin and now Ricky Flynn Motorsport.
“It really gives us a big boost and big confidence boost in terms of his ability,” Sam said.
“Little moments like that made us feel this was worth the sacrifice.
“With Ricky approaching us and saying he’d love to have William on the team as ‘he’s got natural speed’ those comments give us the confidence we are doing the right thing.
“The feedback we have been given is it a world class team, they are very professional.
“He (Ricky Flynn Motorsport) can help William a lot in the areas he needs to improve.
“Hopefully that will give him a good preparation for next year.”
Calleja made his debut for the team last weekend in the OKJ class, competing in the WSK European series.
It’s one of the last steps in karting before drivers graduate to cars in the hope of making it to Formula 1.
The family conceded it’s been tough and expensive at times living overseas and trying to succeed in a tough sport.
And it’s meant there is a degree of pressure and expectation for William to succeed.
A normal week for the pre-teen involves going to school online, through virtual school Victoria, attending gym sessions, undertaking mental strength lessons required to focus on motorsport and then eating a proper diet.
In between all that his time is spent either racing, testing or travelling to compete.
It’s a lot for someone who is one year away from being a teenager.
But the junior wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s something he feels he was born to do.
“In my first few hours in a kart I just enjoyed it so much and I immediately knew this is what I want to do,” he said.
“Every day after school we would go on the track and drive until the fuel runs out.
“I knew I had the skill immediately and it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
And he has his path set out to reach Formula 1.
“I want to follow in the footsteps of Oscar and Jack,” he said.
“Follow the path to Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2 and then Formula One.
“2027 will be the year I start Formula 4.
“Then we’ll start to advance one year after the other.
“My short term goals is to win some races in OKJ by the guidance of Ricky Flynn Motorsport.
“I also want to win the FIA-CIA European championship in 2025.
“With the improvement I have had in 2024 I feel that is possible.”
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