Mid-season Academy Report: Gaining experience in F1 Academy and Karting

If you thought the F1 calendar made for a busy season, feel for our youngest drivers in the Williams Racing Driver Academy.

Lia Block, Oleksandr Bondarev, and Sara Matsui are running multiple championships in 2024, along with managing their education and the day-to-day life of being a teenager.

Even the summer break has had Bondi and Sara in action, while all three had their racing beginning back in the winter months.

Here's how our F1 Academy representative and our karting duo have spent their 2024 so far.

Although Lia's primary focus is on F1 Academy, the all-female series that supports F1 throughout the season, it's one of three series she's contesting in 2024.

Lia went to Spain in February for the Formula Winter Series, looking to get a head start on some wheel-to-wheel action before F1 Academy's first round in Saudi Arabia.

Using the same chassis as F1 Academy, trips to Jerez, Valencia, and Aragón let her go head-to-head with a deep grid of nearly 40 drivers.

It proved a wise choice for Lia, who headed to Jeddah full of confidence, setting the third-fastest time in Free Practice at one of the most intimidating tracks for rookie drivers.

There wouldn't be points from that debut weekend after the aggressive kerbs and a rival driver limited race progress, but the wait for a top-10 finish wouldn't take long.

Where better to score your first F1 Academy point than at home? Lia took a P10 result in Miami's second race after a week of TV appearances and American attention.

The start of a third championship campaign began before F1 Academy's Barcelona trip, and Lia joined Spanish F4 for its round in Portimao, with a Paul Ricard trip later in July.

A combined total of 51 places gained in the six races over the two weekends showed her racecraft, and the experience transferred across for Round 4 of F1 Academy at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Her personal best qualifying performance and two further points-scoring finishes in both races rewarded her drives to help Lia reach P11 in the standings with four rounds to go.

But there was one more bit of single-seater action for Lia to tackle when she had a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to drive the FW08 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

For Oleksandr and Sara, the 2024 year of racing also started early as the karters took to Italy in January and February for the WSK Champions Cup and Super Master Series.

It was a winning start to the year for Bondi, who followed Logan's footprints by winning the OK-Class Champions Cup before getting another victory under his belt in the Super Master Series, which he eventually finished P2.

Sara, meanwhile, took a highly respectable P6 finish in the OK-NJ Champions Cup, with a P2 podium finish in the opening round of the OK-NJ Super Master Series to help her finish the series in P10.

These were just the start of their campaigns for the year, though, with FIA Karting European Championship, Champions Of The Future, and the Champions of the Future Academy rounds all to follow.

The year has brought mixed fortunes for the duo in the incredibly competitive karting world with a rollercoaster of results.

For Bondi, he started the campaign on a high in the Champions of the Future's Valencia round with a P2 finish from a P14 grid slot in the final.

However, that would be the high point of the season. Strong qualifying laps but frustrating races have left Bondi without further trophies, but he has begun testing in F4 machinery to prepare for his future.

Single-lap pace hasn't been as consistent for Sara, but the Japanese teenager has made plenty of places in races all year, and her Champions of the Future Academy results have her P11 of 39 drivers in the series.

More races await all three drivers, plus the others in the Williams Racing Driver Academy, and we'll bring you all the latest on the website and official app.