Rowan Campbell-Pilling earns promotion to GB3 with Xcel Motorsport after overcoming first speed bump on drive to F1

Year one is all about learning the team, the car and the class. Year two is focused solely on winning the title.

All through the classes from bambino to karting, the teenager from Sheffield stuck to his trajectory.

It was supposed to continue like that in 2025 in British Formula 4 - only for the searingly-ambitious, level-headed young man to hit the first big speed bump of his career.

A move to JHR Developments in Dronfield, close to his home in south Sheffield, did not bring the title his trajectory demanded.

“It was tough, definitely a very frustrating last year in British F4,” says Campbell-Pilling. “There were too many things out of our control that weren’t right. You need a full jigsaw to win a race and if one piece is missing you’re not going to win, it’s as simple as that, because there’s always someone out there who has got the whole jigsaw together.

“There were some missing pieces in the jigsaw. But you win and you lose as a team. We had problems at the start but we also got a win at Knockhill with JHR which was very special. So it’s testament to them and us as a whole that we combatted them and managed to get a victory.”

That mid-season win at Knockhill aside, Campbell-Pilling was unable to challenge for the title, finishing 10th in the drivers championship as he had the previous year with Argenti Racing.

For a confident young man, this knock to his self-belief was a challenge to overcome.

But he was handed an opportunity with Xcel Motorsport in the F4 UAE Trophy Series in the winter and bounced back with a victory that has earned him a seat with the same Dubai-based team for the 2026 GB3 series. It is in effect a promotion to the competition directly below Formula 3 and just three rungs underneath pole position on the motor-sport grid: Formula 1.

“It was important for me after a difficult season to get out there quickly, to give myself a mental boost,” says Campbell-Pilling.

“Naturally with anyone, if you’re not winning or doing well then you lose a bit of belief.

“To combat that with the way Xcel believed in me to do a job for them in the UAE, was incredible.”

Campbell-Pilling repaid Xcel with a race win at Abu Dhabi’s famous Yas Marina track and third place overall.

“It was great to have a win at Yas Marina before Christmas, to beat the power-houses of international motor-sport, to beat them fair and square on an up-and-coming team like Xcel, was a true testament to how hard we all worked together,” he added.

“To be able to come back and win, and get my confidence back and give them confidence in me which has led to what’s happening this year, was very important. It was a great experience on and off the track.”

His reward is a seat in Xcel’s GB3 team for an eight-race series that takes in five race weekends at F1 tracks in Silverstone, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spa in Belgium, the Hungaroring and Austria’s Red Bull Ring. Silverstone hosts another round with further race weekends at Brands Hatch and Donington Park.

And for the year ahead the 19-year-old will return to the blueprint that has served him so well on his rise through the ranks.

“Year one is purely to learn, develop and work together as a team, gel as much as possible," he said.

“Make the most of the time we have in the GB3 car and make the most of the amazing opportunity we’ve got. Not only that but enjoy it, learn as much as possible, and hopefully have some great results that come from all the learning and development.

“I’m going to be racing on some prestigious tracks that I’ve not been to before.

"That will again be a great learning experience and great for my development, hopefully for future years.

“F1 is still the plan.”