Academy Report: Alessandro takes two trips to the podium

While Williams Racing battled for points in Canada and Jamie Chadwick made history in America, two of Williams Racing's Driver Academy took to the track on the other side of the Atlantic.

Alessandro Giusti and Lia Block raced around Zandvoort and the Algarve International Circuit as their 2024 campaigns progressed.

With trophies, lessons, and plenty of gained positions in the bag, here's how the Williams Racing Driver Academy got on over the weekend.

Wet weather racing wasn't restricted to Montreal as Alessandro battled the elements in changing Dutch conditions at Zandvoort to reach the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine podium twice.

Any lessons from the dry Qualifying 1 went out the window with a downpour ahead of the first race, which almost ran over the 7 PM limit, where a P4 start became a P3 finish.

Alessandro kept away from trouble as others, including the race leader, span on the slippery surface after losing concentration following multiple Safety Car laps before green flag racing began.

With his first trophy of 2024 secure, Sunday saw Alessandro double that tally with another measured drive, this time in dry conditions.

After some brave defending around the outside of Turn 1 at lights out and pushing for P2 after a mid-race Safety Car restart, Alessandro eventually settled for P3 and left Zandvoort with 30 points for his championship campaign.

With F1 Academy having such a lengthy break between Miami and Barcelona, Lia headed to a new series to keep her wheel-to-wheel racing prowess sharp.

Some simulator days at Grove to prepare for the Formula 4 machinery in Spanish F4 helped her navigate three races at Portimao.

Progress was the story in each race, where Lia added over 90 minutes of clean racing action to her tally, advancing from P35 to P28 in Race 1, P32 to P25 in Race 2, and P31 to P26 in the weekend's final event.

Those combined 19 places came despite most other runners having more experience in the car, and Lia will head to Spain for F1 Academy's next race with even more confidence.