In 2021, Alessandro Giusti made his Formula 4 debut at 14 years old in French F4. He took the championship title a year later, joined the Williams driver academy in the winter of 2024 and raced in F3 with MP Motorsport this year. Giusti joined the Feeder Series Podcast to chew through some questions from fans and discuss his journey in motorsport.

By Grayson Wallace

Giusti discovered karting at 10 years old, going on to make his competitive debut in 2018. Two years on, in 2020, he took his first title in the National Series Karting and finished fourth in the French Junior Karting Championship. 

Now, the driver nicknamed Sandro is an FRegional Europe race winner, an MP driver in F3 and a part of the Williams Racing Driver Academy. Williams hosts other rising junior drivers such as F1 Academy’s Lia Block and F2’s Luke Browning and Victor Martins – Giusti’s compatriot. 

The 19-year-old joined host Jim Kimberley and French F4 editor Perceval Wolff-Taffus on this week’s episode of the Feeder Series Podcast, where the bond with Martins came up in question.

“I’ve known Victor since a while,” Giusti answered. “I remember my first go-kart test was with his brother [Nicolas Martins], so he was my mechanic for my first day in go-kart. I knew [Victor] since 2017, so he was just crowned [junior] world champion in go-karts.

“He coached me in go-karts in my last year, so it’s quite fun to be there with him. I’m in F3, he’s in F2. Even when we had the physical preparation, we had a good relationship.”

Giusti began his competitive career in karting, while the younger Martins was already making waves in single-seaters. The year he coached Giusti, Martins was on his way to winning the Formula Renault Eurocup title. This year, they shared a paddock for the first time since then, with Martins in his third year of F2 and Giusti a rookie in F3.

Martins has always been a few years ahead of Giusti in his career progression except in one area: joining Williams. While the 24-year-old only joined the programme earlier this year after leaving Alpine, Giusti began his tenure at James Vowles’ team in January 2024 ahead of his second season in FR Europe after he placed sixth the year prior with G4 Racing. 

“The first contact was at the end of 2023, after my three wins in a row [at] Paul Ricard, Monza and Red Bull Ring,” Giusti said. “It was a plan for the 2024 season to be with ART and Williams. And then I had a meet-up with James, [academy boss] Sven [Smeets] and other guys from Williams, and then we signed from there.

“I think it’s a great academy. We have a physio for the season. We have a mental coach. We have the sim for F1 available. It’s good preparation for us.”

Giusti is now preparing for the F3 post-season tests in October as he gears up for his second campaign with MP next year. He finished 10th this year with two podiums and 13 total points finishes, the joint-most in the field.

Hear more from Alessandro Giusti in the latest Feeder Series Podcast episode, released 30 September.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency