Williams Driver Academy

The Williams Racing Driver Academy, formerly known as the Williams Young Driver Programme, is a driver development programme by Formula One team Williams. It is meant to promote talent in different racing series by helping them with funds, with the hope of finding drivers who will race for the team in the future.[1] Notable graduates of the scheme are Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi, Jack Aitken and Logan Sargeant; who all made their F1 debuts with Williams.

United Kingdom Williams Racing Driver Academy
Founded2016; 8 years ago (2016) (as Williams Young Driver Programme)
BaseGrove, Oxfordshire, England
Team principal(s)James Vowles
Current drivers
Indy NXT
United Kingdom Jamie Chadwick
FIA Formula 2
United Kingdom Zak O'Sullivan
FIA Formula 3
United Kingdom Luke Browning
FR European Championship
France Alessandro Giusti
F1 Academy
United States Lia Block
Karting
Ukraine Oleksandr Bondarev
Japan Sara Matsui
Netherlands Dean Hoogendoorn
United States Lucas Palacio

Current drivers

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Driver Began Current series Titles as academy member
  Jamie Chadwick[2][3] 2019 Indy NXT W Series (2019, 2021, 2022)
  Zak O'Sullivan[4] 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship None as Williams Driver Academy member
  Franco Colapinto[5] 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship
Formula One
None as Williams Driver Academy member
  Luke Browning[6] 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship
FIA Formula 2 Championship
FIA Formula 3 World Cup
  Oleksandr Bondarev[7] 2023 Karting (OK)
Italian F4 Championship
None as Williams Driver Academy member
  Lia Block[8] 2023 Formula Winter Series
F1 Academy
F4 Spanish Championship
Nitrocross Championship
Italian F4 Championship
None as Williams Driver Academy member
  Alessandro Giusti[9] 2024 Formula Regional European Championship None as Williams Driver Academy member
  Sara Matsui[9] 2024 Karting (OKJ) None as Williams Driver Academy member
  Dean Hoogendoorn[10] 2024 Karting (OKJ) None as Williams Driver Academy member
  Lucas Palacio[11] 2024 Karting None as Williams Driver Academy member

Former drivers

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Driver Years Series competed F1 Team(s)
  Lance Stroll[12] 2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship (2016) Williams (2017–2018)
Racing Point (2019–2020)
Aston Martin (2021–)
  Oliver Rowland[13] 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (2018), Formula E (2018–19) None
  Nicholas Latifi[14] 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship (2019) Williams (2020–2022)
  Dan Ticktum[15][16] 2020–2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship (20202021) None
  Jack Aitken[17] 2020–2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship (20202021), GT World Challenge Europe (2021) Williams (2020)
  Roy Nissany[18] 2020–2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship (20202022), F3 Asian Championship (2021) None
  Logan Sargeant 2021–2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship (2022) Williams (2023–2024)
  Oliver Gray 2022–2023 F4 British Championship (2022), FIA Formula 3 Championship (2023) None
  • Championship titles highlighted in bold.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Barretto, Lawrence (8 April 2020). "The Williams Driver Academy: A pursuit of talent with a commercial upside". F1. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Jamie Chadwick joins Williams Racing Driver Academy". Williams F1. 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Jamie Chadwick continues in the Williams Racing Driver Academy". www.williamsf1.com. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  4. ^ "British teen racer Zak O'Sullivan joins Williams Driver Academy | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Franco Colapinto joins Williams Racing Driver Academy". Williams Racing. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Luke Browning joins the Williams Racing Driver Academy".
  7. ^ "Oleksandr Bondarev joins the Williams Racing Driver Academy".
  8. ^ "Lia Block to drive for Williams Racing in F1 Academy". Williams Racing. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Alessandro Giusti and Sara Matsui join the Williams Racing Driver Academy". Williams Racing. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Dean Hoogendoorn joins Williams Racing Driver Academy". Williams Racing. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Karting prodigy Lucas Palacio joins Williams Racing Driver Academy". Williams Racing. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Williams sign Canadian Lance Stroll to young driver programme". Sky Sports. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Oliver Rowland gets Williams Formula 1 role for 2018". www.autosport.com. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  14. ^ "W Series star Jamie Chadwick joins Williams' Driver Academy | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Dan Ticktum joins Williams Racing Driver Academy". Williams F1. 17 December 2019. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Williams release development driver Dan Ticktum | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Jack Aitken confirmed as Reserve Driver for ROKiT Williams Racing". Williams F1. 4 February 2020. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  18. ^ "Roy Nissany is confirmed as Official Test Driver". Williams F1. 15 January 2020. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.