Academy Preview: Belgium and France beckon for Sandro, Kean and Sasha
Our F3, FREC and E4 contenders head to an iconic venue this weekend
Published
15 JUL 2026
Est. reading time
3 min
Three Atlassian Williams F1 Team Driver Academy members are back in action this weekend, with Alessandro Giusti, Kean Nakamura-Berta and Oleksandr Bondarev all heading to the continent for the next rounds of their respective championships.
Keep reading for everything you need to know ahead of the action.
Alessandro Giusti
Formula 3
Sandro heads to Belgium for what is, on paper, one of the most exciting rounds of the F3 calendar. Spa-Francorchamps is Round 6 of the 2026 FIA Formula 3 season, and the 7-kilometre blast through the Ardennes forests will test every driver on the grid across every session.
It has been a season of patches for Sandro, with moments of genuine pace sandwiched by frustrating penalties and difficult race days. At Silverstone, he showed solid speed in qualifying and an aggressive Sprint that saw him run inside the top three before dropping away, but a five-second post-race penalty in the Feature ultimately left him P13. Before that, a difficult Spielberg weekend was similarly marked by strong qualifying pace undone by on-track setbacks.
Practice and Qualifying take place on Friday, with the Sprint Race on Saturday and the Feature Race on Sunday.
Kean Nakamura-Berta
Formula Regional European Championship
Kean arrives at Circuit Paul Ricard as one of the championship's leading contenders, and in the kind of form that suggests a strong weekend ahead.
Heading into Round 6, Kean sits second in the FREC standings on 130 points, 21 points behind championship leader Rashid Al Dhaheri. It's a position he has fought hard to maintain across what has been an intense season to date.
Hungaroring was his most recent outing, and it consolidated his position. Kean completed the podium in third in Race 2 after a penalty to Alexander Abkhazava shuffled the order, and he moved into second overall after Sebastian Wheldon's retirements.
Circuit Paul Ricard is recognisable for its blue and red run-off areas and its storied racing history, combining intense turns and fast straights including the Mistral Straight, one of the longest on any permanent racing circuit in Europe.
Oleksandr Bondarev
E4 Championship
Just a few weeks after his encouraging opening E4 round at Vallelunga, where Sasha banked points across all three races and ended the weekend with a P4 finish, he returns to action at Circuit Paul Ricard for the second of the series' three rounds.
The opening round gave Sasha a solid reference point. He showed strong pace in the opening qualifying session (P5) and delivered three consistent race performances, improving across the weekend to take his best result in the final race.
His E4 campaign runs in parallel with his Italian F4 charge, meaning every E4 weekend adds to an already intensive racing education. The next round of Italian F4 at Mugello follows later this month, so a strong showing at Paul Ricard will provide a timely confidence boost.
Shop our Summer Sale:
Sale
2026 Mens Team Tech Tee
···
Sale
2026 Mens Team Tech Polo
···
Sale
2026 Womens Team Tech Tee
···
Sale
2026 Womens Team Tech Polo
···
Sale
2026 Mens Team Quarter Zip
···
Sale
2026 Mens Team Winter Coat
···
Sale
2026 Mens Team Bomber
···
Sale
2026 Womens Team Bomber
···
Sale
2026 Team Cap 9FORTY
···
Sale
Albon
2026 Race Special Miami Albon Cap
···
Earn WClub points
Latest
Trending
© 2026 The Williams Group, under licence to Williams IP Holdings LLC
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Services LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with company registration number OC456938 and whose registered address is at Station Road, Grove, Wantage, Oxfordshire, OX12 0DQ.
Powered By