Photo: Prema
Sasha Bondarev, a junior driver of the Williams Formula 1 team, will stay in Formula 4 next year with Prema.
The Italian outfit made the announcement during a gap in the winter test schedule, with Bondarev having been busy in Italian F4 tests over the last month. In 2026 he will race in Italian F4 and the sister E4 championship, both familiar paddocks to him.
He graduated from karts to cars by contesting the last two rounds of the 2024 Italian F4 season with Prema, coming 30th in the standings, then with a full campaign this year was 10th in the points table with one win. In E4 he was ninth in the points.
“Very happy to stay with Prema for another year in Italian F4,” said the 16-year-old Ukrainian.
“I believe that we put in great work over this year to learn everything we needed to learn, and now ready to fight for the championship. Very grateful to Prema and Williams for believing in me, and we will work even harder to maximise everything we can next season!”
The team says “additional appearances will be announced in due course”, which will likely mean a return to the F4 United Arab Emirates paddock. The championship is returning to its original name after being ran as F4 Middle East this year, and in that season Bondarev came 12th in the standings with a best finish of sixth.
“After a year of learning, we are confident that Sasha will do a great job in 2026,” Prema’s founder Angelo Rosin added.
“He has been part of the Prema family for a while now, and we know he has great potential. The experience he gained this year will be crucial, and we are looking forward to seeing where his progress will bring him next.”