Williams Junior Oleksandr “Sasha” Bondarev spoke to Motorsport Week about moving from Karting to single-seaters as he fights for the Italian F4 title this year.
Bondarev is a 16-year-old Ukrainian driver who gained Williams‘ attention during his Karting career. In 2023, he joined the academy and benefited from the Grove team’s support as he made the move from Karting to single-seaters.
“It’s been super, super helpful. I’m really grateful to have run at Williams. It’s a really difficult step to make. Having the support of people who already work within the car industry, just having that experience and the knowledge to use that to prepare, it’s amazing to have.” Bondarev told Motorsport Week.
“So it’s been really, really helpful for me, and I’m happy that I’m finally able to show some results now.”
Beyond support for his current journey in single-seaters, the Williams F1 Driver Academy also offers a direct path for Bondarev to hopefully reach F1. Their aide is vital in the journey to the pinnacle of Motorsport.
“Being in the Williams [F1 Driver] Academy is kind of the best path if I want to reach Formula One. So having their support is already a massive step in the right direction.” Bondarev said.
“Every year, the goal is to win the championship, you’re racing. This year, it’s the Italian F4, which is the main one. So that’s the target for being in my second year.”
“It’s not that it’s more pressure in that regard, because I already have more experience than some of my rivals. Just no pressure, and I’ll just try to perform the best way I can.”
A bumpy rookie year
In his first season in single-seaters, he competed in Italian F4, F4 Middle East, and E4, with Italian F4 as his main focus.
Despite managing to take a maiden victory in Imola and another podium in the final weekend of the season, he sat tenth in the standings as the chequered flag fell. Bondarev believed this was a mix of the ‘rookie mistakes’ and a lack of consistency.
“I feel like a lot of things last year didn’t go our way. The pace was there the whole year. I just made some mistakes that every rookie makes, and just not being consistent enough was probably why the year didn’t go fully to plan.
“Doing a second year of F4 was a good opportunity for me to prove myself. We have the Italian F4 and the E4 championships.”
The move up from Karting to Single-seaters is not to be underestimated. Bondarev spoke about the difference between the two and how a second season should bring more performance now that he is settled.
“I think overall, just how the car handles is a completely different kind of philosophy of driving compared to karting, and I just needed to learn it fully before starting to get good results.”
“F4 is kind of like the most difficult stage because you’re still adapting, and for some people, one year can be enough. But for me, I think having two years just to learn everything is really good because then I can go into the next categories and be a lot more prepared.”
Starting 2026 strong
The preparation and adjustment paid off for the Young Ukrainian who took his first single-seater title in UAE4 in February of 2026.
With Italian F4 on the horizon and a desire to win the series alongside it, Bondarev admitted that winning UAE4 gave him a boost of confidence at the start of the year.
“It’s a nice motivation boost to how good the year started. It brings some confidence because you know you have the pace, but it’s good to have the understanding that you’re able to put a championship over the line and to put everything together to get that title.
“Knowing that even in the UAE, where we probably didn’t have the pace, especially in the last two rounds, we still scored really good points and got the championship over the line, where it was at some points really difficult.”
Having a single-seater title under his belt has given Bondarev the confidence that he can take the lead again.
“In Italy, it’s not going to be easy. Of course, it’s the most difficult F4 championship there is, and it’s going to take a lot of hard work and determination. But I feel like we can, and having this championship already is a good confidence boost to have.” He told Motorsport Week.
Consistency is key
Importantly, the young Ukrainian has taken vital lessons from his rookie season.
“The main area, probably, is consistency that I’m working on. As well as the race management and tyre management, because I struggled a bit more on high-degradation tracks last year, like Mugello and Barcelona.
“It’s going to be really important, and I feel like I’ve made quite a big step in that already. Compared to last year, it’s already completely different. As I said, last year I think we had a really good pace to be higher in the standings than we were.”
Bondarev has the added benefit of returning to Italian F4 with the same team, PREMA. The similarity he admits gives him an advantage.
“Working with the same team for two years is, of course, an advantage because you know all the people there, you work with them, and they know what the best kind of outcome is for you in terms of how to set up the car and stuff.
“It’s really helpful. The environment’s all the same.”
Bondarev represents one of the few Ukranian drivers in Motorsport and subsequently receives a lot of support from his country. In the midst of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Bondarev was happy to bring his countrymen joy.
“It feels really good. I always feel like I represent Ukraine on my stage, which is Motorsport. Every time I get good results, it really feels good because I know that I make some people feel happy in a really difficult moment for my country.”
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