Sasha secures UAE4 Series title

History has been made by our Ukrainian racer

Published

13 FEB 2026

Est. reading time

2 min

It might only be mid-February, but there has already been championship success for the Williams F1 Team Driver Academy, after Oleksandr Bondarev secured the UAE4 Series title in Qatar.

Sasha claims his maiden single-seater title after putting the finishing touches on a strong UAE4 campaign, and in doing so becomes Ukraine’s first-ever single-seater champion in any category.

Heading into the final round in Qatar, Sasha held a 24-point lead over his nearest challenger and duly set about strengthening his position in qualifying, securing P2 and P4 across the two sessions.

In the opening race of three – one that saw little change at the front and multiple laps behind the Safety Car – Sasha remained where he started to secure his seventh podium of the campaign.

As the sun rose in Qatar on Friday, he knew he was on the brink of the title, but first had to navigate two final races, beginning with the reverse-grid Race 2.

Lining up in P11, our Kyiv native successfully negotiated several yellow flag periods and three red flags to climb to P5 – a result that clinched the UAE4 Series crown with a race to spare.

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Another P5 followed in the final event, but by then the job had already been done and Sasha could fully celebrate a landmark achievement.

It marks another major milestone in the 16-year-old’s career. After battling back from a serious injury in 2022, Sasha went on to win two European karting titles before stepping up into single-seaters, and now he has his first series victory to his name.

Congratulations Sasha, from everyone at Atlassian Williams F1 Team!

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