Williams Driver Academy driver Oleksandr Bondarev closed his first FIA Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) programme with a victory, pole position, two podiums and points in all five races across Imola and Hockenheim.
The 17-year-old Ukrainian joined Van Amersfoort Racing for the final two rounds of the 2026 season as he stepped up from Formula 4 machinery and prepared for a full Formula Regional campaign in 2027. Instead of spending those weekends simply adapting to the category, Bondarev immediately competed towards the front and delivered Ukraine’s first victory in Formula Regional Europe.
The move followed an already significant 2026 campaign. Bondarev became the first Ukrainian champion in the UAE4 Series before continuing in Italian F4 and E4 with PREMA Racing. A change in ownership and management at PREMA coincided with that campaign, and Bondarev could not convert the season into the results he had expected. Formula Regional therefore offered a timely opportunity to establish a fresh benchmark against drivers who had spent the full year competing in the category.
Van Amersfoort Racing already knew Bondarev through testing, so the final two FREC rounds provided a natural extension of that work. Thus, Bondarev could gain race mileage in the second-generation Tatuus T-326, adapt to the increased downforce and more demanding race weekends, and measure his performance directly against the championship’s established frontrunners before committing to 2027.
Bondarev turns FREC debut into historic Imola victory
Bondarev needed little time to make an impact when his FREC programme began at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. He scored points with 10th place in his first race before climbing onto the podium with second in Race 2.
However, Sunday transformed an encouraging debut into a historic one. Bondarev claimed pole position for Race 3 and then controlled the race despite three Safety Car restarts. He kept championship leader Emanuele Olivieri behind and crossed the line 0.443s clear to secure his first FREC victory.
The result also carried wider significance. Bondarev became the first Ukrainian driver to win in Formula Regional Europe, while Van Amersfoort Racing celebrated its first victory of the 2026 FREC season. He also became the championship’s 10th different race winner during its first season under FIA branding.
“After Saturday, I already felt this was a weekend to be proud of. Today was just incredible. Pole, a good start, race control. Restarts in this car are harder than in Formula 4, but they were enough to keep the lead,” Bondarev said after the Imola victory.
The result showed more than outright pace. Bondarev had to manage repeated restarts in machinery that demanded a different approach from the Formula 4 cars he had previously raced. Each intervention removed the advantage he had built, yet he repeatedly controlled the restart and kept Olivieri behind.
His first FREC weekend therefore produced three points finishes, two podiums, one pole and one victory. More importantly, it established that he could immediately operate at the front of a category he had entered primarily to gain experience.
Hockenheim tests Bondarev’s recovery and consistency
Bondarev faced a different challenge one week later at Hockenheim. Rather than another front-row breakthrough, qualifying left him further down the order and forced him to demonstrate his ability to recover through the field.
He responded in Race 1 by climbing from 19th to eighth. Bondarev managed the race effectively, made progress against drivers with considerably more FREC experience and again finished inside the points.
The season finale produced another points finish. Bondarev took seventh in Race 2 after the final classification, completing his two-round programme without a retirement or a scoreless race.
That consistency complemented the headline result from Imola. Across five starts, Bondarev recorded P10, P2 and P1 at Imola before adding P8 and P7 at Hockenheim. He therefore left his short FREC programme with one victory, one pole position, two podiums and five points finishes from five races.
Hockenheim also showed a different side of his adaptation. Imola demonstrated that Bondarev could lead and manage a race from the front, while Hockenheim required him to recover positions and extract results when qualifying did not provide an ideal starting point.
Two rounds provide a meaningful benchmark for 2027
The two weekends gave Bondarev, Van Amersfoort Racing and the Williams Driver Academy a considerably clearer picture of his level heading into 2027.
Bondarev did not spend the programme circulating at the back while learning unfamiliar machinery. Instead, he fought among drivers who had completed almost an entire FREC season, scored in every race and immediately added a victory to Van Amersfoort Racing’s campaign.
His results also strengthened the team’s championship position during the closing rounds. More significantly for Bondarev’s own development, the programme confirmed that his transition from Formula 4 could progress immediately towards competitive objectives rather than requiring a prolonged period of adaptation.
That matters as he prepares for a complete championship campaign. A two-round sample cannot replicate the demands of a full season, which will require performance across different circuits, conditions and phases of development. However, Bondarev used those five races to demonstrate qualifying speed, race pace, restart management, overtaking and consistency.
The programme therefore answered the central question behind his late-season move: whether he could immediately compete at Formula Regional level. His results at Imola and Hockenheim provided a clear response.
Bondarev commits to full 2027 FREC campaign
Bondarev will now contest the full 2027 FIA Formula Regional European Championship, but his objective will change significantly from the one that shaped his two-round introduction.
The late-2026 programme focused on mileage, adaptation and evaluation. The 2027 campaign will instead centre on victories and a championship challenge from the beginning of the season.
Bondarev and his management continue to consider several competitive options on the FREC grid, with talks over his 2027 team ongoing. They plan to confirm the team separately once they complete the necessary formalities.
That decision will carry particular importance after his immediate success with Van Amersfoort Racing. Bondarev has already shown that he can win in FREC machinery; his next challenge involves finding the package that can sustain that level across a complete championship.
“Two rounds gave us the answer we were looking for. The level is there. The character is there. Now we need a full season and a team we can fight for wins with every weekend. That is the next step — and we will take it”, Bondarev said.
The expectations therefore change considerably heading into 2027. Bondarev will no longer enter the championship as a late-season newcomer trying to understand where he stands. His five-race introduction already provided that reference point.
He leaves 2026 as a Formula Regional race winner, the first Ukrainian to achieve that distinction in the European championship, and a driver who scored points every time he started. When he returns for the full 2027 season, adaptation will no longer define the programme. Fighting at the front will.
