Academy Report: P1, podiums, and points from the principality

Our Williams Racing Driver Academy kickstarted our Sunday celebrations for our first 2024 points by taking two trophies, including a maiden win, in Formula 2 and Formula 3.

Zak O'Sullivan executed an incredible strategy that had him four seconds from disqualification instead of becoming a Monaco race-winning driver, while Luke Browning's street circuit expertise took him to a proud P3.

Read how their weekends unfolded, along with Franco Colapinto and Alessandro Giusti's points-scoring races below.

It didn't look like Zak would be leaving Monte Carlo with points, let alone his first F2 victory, on Friday, but where better than Monaco to defy the odds and win big?

A P15 qualification at the circuit where overtaking is as near-impossible in F2 and F3 as it is in F1 looked as though our British teenager needed to settle in for a long weekend.

Three positions gained in the opening lap of the Sprint Race suggested Zak wasn't here to adhere to Monaco's tricky-to-gain-places reputation, and he finished his Saturday in P10.

It was the Feature Race where he completed his masterpiece, though, running a contrary strategy by waiting for a slowdown before making his mandatory pit stop.

With two laps remaining of the 42-lap race, a VSC call came, and he dived into the pit lane as the yellow flags waved, just four seconds before it would've been too late (F2 drivers cannot make their mandatory stop in VSC conditions) to take one of F2's most memorable Monaco wins.

It's now three weekends running that Franco has taken points in his rookie season fighting in Formula 2.

The Argentine driver, who celebrates his birthday today, drove a storming lap on Friday to qualify in P5.

That became P6 for the reverse grid Sprint Race, but Franco executed a Turn 1 overtake on Roman Stanek to clinch fifth place in the opening metres, where he'd finish the race for another four 2024 points.

Unfortunately, Sunday wasn't as successful as pit stops shuffled the order, leading to a P13 finish.

Another podium finish for Luke has kept him in the 2024 Formula 3 championship battle, where he's just four points from the top spot.

Two Monaco top-10 finishes helped him secure a hefty haul to add to his tally, with P8 in Saturday's Sprint Race coming after a Lap 1 overtake to keep him clear of a six-car pile-up just behind him.

But it was Sunday's Feature Race that was the drive that had Luke flying home with a Monte Carlo trophy in his luggage.

He survived an attack from Arvid Lindblad off the line to retain his P3 position and remained unphased by three Safety Car periods to cross the line in third place to secure a trip to the sport's best podium.

While the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine didn't support the Monaco GP, Alessandro still took on one of Europe's legendary circuits as the series had its second round at Spa-Francorchamps.

Our Frenchman fought his compatriots in both races, as he battled Enzo Peugeot throughout Saturday's Race 1 and Evan Giltaire in Sunday's Race 2.

A manic Lap 1 in the first race that saw many cars run over the Les Combes chicane saw Alessandro cross the line in P5 before suffering a two-place drop from the stewards for an off-track overtake later in the race.

He fought back on Sunday after dropping behind Noah Stømsted down the Kemmel Straight during the opening lap but kept Giltaire behind while closing in on Ferrari-backed Tuukka Taponen.

A late Safety Car closed the pack up, and a penultimate-lap mistake for Taponen let Alessandro get on the tail of P4 through Eau Rouge during the last lap and slipstream past for his best finish of 2024.