Two of our Williams Racing Driver Academy stars headed to Barcelona over the weekend for five races around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Alessandro Giusti continued his post-summer run of picking up podiums, while a new name appeared on the Italian F4 grid as Oleksandr Bondarev took the step from karts to single-seaters.

Here's how our duo handled their weekend in Montmeló.

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Sandro's consistency since finishing in P1 at Paul Ricard in July has brought home trophies in every race weekend he's contested since.

Sunday's Race 2 continued that streak as the French teenager secured a P2 finish from his front-row start in Spain.

Although he was fastest in his Qualifying group by beating the newly-crowned 2024 champion, Sandro had to settle for second place after the other group's fastest driver found just 0.061s more pace.

A confident drive after an early Safety Car slowdown ended with a tight finish for Sando, and he needed to master the final three laps under pressure from P3, but crossed the line P2 to take his sixth podium of the season.

The 18 points, on top of the four secured in Race 1 for P8, have advanced the 18-year-old racer to P4 in the standings ahead of next month's season finale.

Sasha was also in Spain as he stepped up to enjoy his first weekend racing in cars rather than karts.

It proved to be three days of learning after facing up against much more experienced competitors who have gone wheel-to-wheel all year in the Tatuus F4-T-421 machinery.

Finishing P19, P25, and P18 across the three races, Bondi dealt with Safety Cars, rolling restarts and tight racing throughout, and even had the confidence to make overtakes from the very first 30-minute event.

Taking to social media after his first days in single-seater racing, Sasha summed up his debut by saying, "Good progress in Race 3 to end the weekend.

"Finally made a good step in Race 3 with better pace and less driving mistakes, difficult race in the fighting perspective but happy to make some places up."

Both Sandro and Sasha will return as FRECA and Italian F4 end their 2024 seasons in Monza over 25th-27th October.

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Alessandro’s motorsport career has already demonstrated his skill as a driver, showing impressive results through karting and single-seaters. The 17-year-old from Bièvres, France, has risen through the ranks of national and international karting, graduating to cars for the 2021 French Formula 4 Championship. 

In his rookie season, Alessandro won the French F4 Junior title and came sixth overall in the championship. Throughout the season, he achieved two race wins and a pole position.

Building on this experience in the following year, he went on to secure two wins and six consecutive poles in the final three rounds of the 2022 season, becoming overall series champion. As he progressed, he became a master of qualifying in the final three rounds, scoring six out of a possible six pole positions.

2023 saw Alessandro progress into the Formula Regional European Championship with G4 Racing where he stood on the podium four times, three of which were race wins. In January 2024, it was announced that he would be joining the Williams Racing Driver Academy where he will have access to the full spectrum of academy support.

In 2024, Alessandro will race for a second season in the Formula Regional European Championship with ART Grand Prix.

More from Alessandro Giusti

Alessandro Giusti

Oleksandr has been karting since the age of five. His first major title came at the Ukrainian Karting Championship, becoming the series' youngest champion in its history at only 7 years old. The following year, Oleksandr entered his first international championship including the WSK Final Cup 60 Mini class and the CEE Rotax Max Challenge, which he won.

In 2021, he competed in the CIK-FIA Academy Trophy, securing a podium and a third overall result in the highly competitive championship.

The following year, he joined the Ricky Flynn Motorsport team, best known for supporting numerous Formula 1 drivers in their karting careers. He went on to win the 2022 WSK OKJ Super Master Series, achieving podiums at all four races and wins at three.

Later in the year, Oleksandr began the CIK-FIA OKJ European Championship season before he was involved in a serious karting accident in the second round, ending his season prematurely. His stationary kart was hit head-on in Zuera, Spain, causing him to sustain a compound fracture in his leg which required ten surgeries and multiple months of rehabilitation. Oleksandr made a full recovery by Autumn 2022.

In the first full season after his injury, Oleksandr was crowned 2023 CIK-FIA Karting European Champion, becoming the first Ukrainian driver in the history of karting to win the championship. Throughout the season, he stood on the podium a total of four times, including two wins.

The 14-year-old driver joined the Williams Racing Driver Academy in September 2023.

For 2024, Oleksandr will continue in karting in European and global championships, including the FIA European Karting Championship and the WSK Super Master Series.

More from Oleksandr Bondarev

Oleksandr Bondarev

Another podium finish for Alessandro Giusti in his 2024 FRECA campaign

Academy Report: Spanish silverware for Sandro

Another podium finish for Alessandro Giusti in his 2024 FRECA campaign

FRECA

Formula 4

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