Academy Report: A trio at the Temple

Europe's junior racing season came to a close over the weekend, with three Williams Racing Driver Academy drivers in action at Monza.

The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine had support from Italian F4 at the Temple of Speed, with Alessandro Giusti concluding his 2024 season.

Joining him in Italy was Oleksandr Bondarev, in his second outing in single-seater machinery, and Lia Block, who made her debut in the championship finale.

Here's how everyone got on in Monza.

A weekend of two halves saw Sandro enjoy the highs of a front-row start on Sunday, but also the disappointment of a retirement in Race 1 on a rainy Saturday.

The lack of points from Saturday meant picking up P3 in the championship standings was a long shot in the year's final race, but Sandro did his upmost to close the gap.

Sunshine finally poured over the Italian park on Sunday afternoon, and although Sandro fell from P2 to P3 on the opening lap, the Frenchman soon began his fightback.

A brave move around the outside of the Variante della Roggia returned him to second place before Safety Cars slowed down the race ahead of a red flag stoppage that end the FRECA year after a car caught fire.

Alessandro Giusti finished his 2024 campaign P4 in the standings, 84 points better than last year, with two victories to his name, plus five further trophies for his growing collection.

Bondi was agonisingly close to clinching his first points in car racing at Monza, but still gained more experience from his time in Italy.

P11 was his best finish from the first of three races after a P12 start in a wet Race 1 where the Ukrainian spent most of his time behind the Safety Car.

It wasn't so close in the remaining two races, sadly, with Bondi running as high as P8 in Race 2, but left with nowhere to go when a car spun in front of him after a restart leading to a DNF.

Race 3 began from P22 and ended P24, with another long race for Oleksandr after an early collision in a race of multiple Safety Cars.

After racing in F1 Academy, Formula Winter Series, Spanish F4, the Baja 1000, and Nitrocross, Lia added Italian F4 to her busy 2024 campaign.

With 38 cars competing, there was certainly a lot to learn for her first trip to Monza, and the weekend deluge meant her maiden outing was a slippery affair.

Still, Lia kept her car pointing the right way to get a P30 classification in Race 1, then fared better in Race 2 to pick up P23 from a P36 start on a drying track.

Sadly a P28 qualification in Race 3 ended early with damage after an incident at Variante della Roggia that broke her front suspension.

Although there's no more racing in Europe for our junior drivers, Lia will be back on track for the final two rounds of F1 Academy when the all-female series supports F1 at the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.