Williams Racing
Williams adds Ukrainian karting prospect Bondarev to driver academy
Williams has announced that European karting champion Oleksandr Bondarev has been signed to its driver academy.
Bondarev was crowned the CIK-FIA Karting European Champion this year, becoming the first Ukrainian to take the title. Now the 14-year-old has been added to the Williams set-up after also signing for Prema’s karting team ahead of an attempt at the FIA Karting World Championship in October.
“I am so excited to join the Williams Racing Driver Academy,” Bondarev said. “Williams Racing is one of the most iconic teams in motorsport, having had some of the best drivers in the sport race for them and it is an honor to have the chance to be part of that history.
“Since I was five years old, when I began karting, I dreamt about Formula 1. I have a long way to go, of course, but this is a huge step for me. I always knew that becoming part of an F1 young driver program was crucial and I will work hard to repay the confidence and belief which James and Sven have placed in me.”
Williams sporting director Sven Smeets says Bondarev will remain in karting for the time being but that the team had noticed his potential prior to his recent championship success.
“We’re delighted to announce that Oleksandr has joined the Williams Racing Driver Academy,” Smeets said. “He’s a highly regarded young talent that we’ve monitored for some time.
“At just 14 years old, he already has several impressive achievements to his name, including the 2023 FIA-CIK European OKJ Championship. Oleksandr has shown a lot of potential at an early age and we look forward to supporting his development as he continues his journey in karting.”
Bondarev joins Jamie Chadwick, Zak O’Sullivan, Franco Colapinto, Luke Browning and Ollie Gray in the academy.
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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