Few drivers make it to Formula 1, but their odds of doing so skyrocket by being affiliated with an F1 team’s junior driver programme. This series explores the performances of driver academy members in 2024. Today’s spotlight: the Williams Racing Driver Academy.

By Finjo Muschlien

When the F1 season kicked off with no rookies in 2024, few expected that 2023 FIA F3 driver Franco Colapinto would be the only full-time participating rookie. But after Williams decided to part ways with Logan Sargeant midway through 2024, Colapinto became the latest Williams academy member to be promoted to F1, joining a list that includes Sargeant and substitute driver Jack Aitken.

Ollie Gray left the Williams academy after the 2023 season, as he stepped away from single-seaters and raced in the European Le Mans Series and Porsche Cup competition. Jamie Chadwick also left the programme but became an adviser for the 2024 season as she continued racing in Indy NXT.

Check out the e-book below to read all eight of the 2024 F1 driver academy reviews!

Franco Colapinto (F1, P19; F2, P9)

Argentine driver Colapinto had an accelerated path to F1 and knew how to impress straight away. Replacing the struggling Sargeant from the Italian Grand Prix onwards, Colapinto did exactly what Williams was hoping for. Not only did the 21-year-old achieve something Sargeant couldn’t in 2024 by scoring points on two occasions – at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and at the United States Grand Prix – but he also beat experienced teammate Alexander Albon in qualifying on multiple occasions.

Prior to earning a full-time F1 seat, Colapinto made his free practice one debut with Williams at the British Grand Prix in 2024.

Having raced in F3 in 2023 and finished fourth overall with two wins, Colapinto made his F2 debut with MP Motorsport at Abu Dhabi in 2023. He continued with MP in 2024 for what was intended to be a full F2 season, the highlights of which were a win in the Imola sprint race and his two second-place finishes in the Barcelona and Spielberg feature races.

When Colapinto left F2 to take over Sargeant’s F1 seat, he was sixth in the championship with 96 points, 69 behind then–championship leader Isack Hadjar. He ended up ninth in the standings despite missing the final four rounds. 

Colapinto’s 2025 plans are unknown at this point.

Zak O’Sullivan (F2, P16)

Back in November 2023, O’Sullivan made his F1 free practice debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In doing so, he became the first driver to participate in an F1 free practice session and race in the current iteration of F3 in the same year, but his dream of taking over Sargeant’s seat on a full-time basis was short-lived. 

F2 rival Colapinto got the nod over him for the Italian Grand Prix weekend, which was also O’Sullivan’s last in F2.

While no official reason was given for the premature end to his rookie season, Williams sporting director Sven Smeets said in an interview with Motorsport.com that there had been a conflict between O’Sullivan and ART Grand Prix, the Briton’s F2 team, that did not involve Williams.

The highlight of O’Sullivan’s season until that point was by a lucky weekend in Monaco, where being on the alternate strategy and having a well-timed late virtual safety car intervention helped him win the feature race from 15th on the grid. A further sprint race win followed at Spa-Francorchamps, though a red flag after five laps because of heavy rain meant that only partial points were awarded. He scored on only five other occasions and finished the season 16th in the standings. 

O’Sullivan participated in the Super Formula rookie test at Suzuka on December 13 with Kondō Racing. His 2025 plans are unknown at this point, as is his continued membership in the academy.

Luke Browning (F2, P26; F3, P3)

Browning, the 2022 GB3 champion and 2023 Macau Grand Prix winner, completed his second full season of F3 with Hitech GP in 2024. With two feature race wins at Bahrain and Spielberg, Browning was a championship contender until the final race at Monza, which he entered seven points behind Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli.

While Fornaroli and fellow rival Minì started up front, Browning had to start the race from 14th position, and an incident on the third lap dropped him to the back of the field and put paid to his championship hopes. Still, he ended the year third with 128 points, making him the first Hitech driver to finish in the top three in the F3 drivers’ standings.

Browning took over O’Sullivan’s ART F2 seat for the final three rounds of 2024. Making his debut on a street circuit in Baku, Browning finished 11th in the sprint race and seventh in the feature. Those were his first six points in the series, while a further three came from a sixth-place finish in the sprint race at the final round of the season in Abu Dhabi.

Browning ended 2024 by driving the Williams FW46 in free practice one at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – his F1 weekend debut – and at the following week’s post-season test, also at Yas Marina. 

In 2025, Browning will continue racing in F2 and return to Hitech. He is expected to remain a Williams junior.

Alessandro Giusti (FRegional Europe, P4)

2022 French F4 champion Giusti impressed in FRegional Europe in 2023 by taking three wins and an additional second-place finish with the unfancied G4 Racing and finishing sixth overall. His strong performances helped him secure a deal with ART Grand Prix for the 2024 season as well as membership in the Williams junior programme, which was announced in January 2024.

Unlike many of his rivals, Giusti did no other racing besides FR Europe in 2024. Still, the 18-year-old took two wins and five additional podiums en route to fourth in the drivers’ standings. 

In 2025, Giusti will step up to F3 with MP Motorsport. The Frenchman participated in both of F3’s post-season tests at Jerez and Barcelona with the team earlier this year. 

Lia Block (F1 Academy, P8; Formula Winter Series, P45; Spanish F4, P36; Italian F4, P49)

Lia Block made her Formula 4 debut in 2024 after having previously competed in rallying. Her unusual career path raised questions about how well she would adapt to single-seaters, but her F1 Academy season turned out to be surprisingly strong.

Block began her year in the Formula Winter Series with the GRS outfit, finishing 45th out of 47 drivers overall after taking part in the first three of four rounds. That was preparation for her main F1 Academy campaign, which turned out to be much more successful. Racing with ART Grand Prix, she went on to finish eighth overall with 44 points, highlighted by two fourth-place finishes in Singapore. 

Block also competed in two Spanish F4 rounds at Le Castellet and Portimão with GRS as well as the Italian F4 season finale at Monza, where she joined ART alongside F1 Academy teammate Bianca Bustamante. None of those appearances yielded points.

Block will remain a Williams junior in 2025 and will continue to race in F1 Academy with ART.

Oleksandr Bondarev (Italian F4, P30; Karting, various)

Bondarev’s step to F4 was long awaited, as he was seen as Ukraine’s most promising karter. When he joined the Williams academy in September 2023 off the back of winning the FIA’s junior European karting title, he became the first Ukrainian ever to sign with an F1 team.

Bondarev turned 15 at the end of April, and his move to F4 finally happened in September with Prema Racing at the Barcelona Italian F4 round. He did not, however, score points in the two rounds at Barcelona and Monza in which he participated.

After the season concluded, Bondarev took part in several private F4 tests with Prema, AKM Motorsport and Storm Motorsport. Speaking to Feeder Series in June of this year, Williams sporting director Sven Smeets confirmed the team’s plans for Bondarev to race in F4 Middle East and Italian F4 in 2025.

Sara Matsui (Karting, various)

Japanese karter Matsui joined the Williams Racing Driver Academy in January 2024, having just made the switch from Japanese to international karting at the end of 2023. The 14-year-old had support from the F1 Academy Discover Your Drive programme and competed in various championships this year, including the Champions of the Future Euro Series and the FIA Karting European Championship.

She stepped up from junior to senior karting ahead of the FIA Karting World Championship in September, in which she finished 76th. She will continue in the OK class in 2025. 

Dean Hoogendoorn (Karting, various)

Williams announced the signing of 12-year-old karter Hoogendoorn in August 2024, during the F1 Dutch Grand Prix weekend. The Dutchman had a year of ups and downs beginning with the WSK Super Master Series, in which he finished third behind Red Bull junior Niklas Schaufler and McLaren junior Dries Van Langendonck.

Hoogendoorn competed in several other championships this year in the OK-Junior class. These included the Champions of the Future Euro Series, in which he finished 10th; the FIA Karting European Championship, in which he finished 15th; and the FIA Karting World Championship, in which he missed out on reaching the finals and was classified 55th. The highlight of his 2024 was winning the final race of the WSK Final Cup at Cremona and finishing fifth in the series’ standings. 

Hoogendoorn is expected to continue in junior karting next year.

Lucas Palacio (Karting, various)

Palacio is Williams’ youngest and most recent addition to its driver academy, having joined in October 2024 at 10 years old. 

After winning three Mini Swift national karting championships in 2023, Palacio made the switch to European karting this year. He raced in the Mini Gr3 under-10 60cc class of the WSK Super Master Series, in which he finished second overall, before taking fourth overall in the same class of the Italian ACI Karting Championship. 

Header photo credit: XPB Images / Williams Racing