As the first Ukrainian signed to a Formula One team, Oleksandr Bondarev is having a great career in karting, but he has also had to go through a trying time as his nation fights Russian invasion.
He said, “I am Ukrainian, I was born in Kiev, and my entire family is from Ukraine.” “I make an effort to help my nation during these trying times”. In addition to participating in the Race for Ukraine charity marathon in England, I hoist the Ukrainian flag onto every podium.
Bondarev was in Italy, where he presently resides with his mother, for the Champions of the Future Winter Series season premiere at Franciacorta Karting Track on February 24, 2022, when the full-scale invasion started.
“My mother woke me up at seven in the morning and told me what had happened,” said Bondarev. “I had a huge shock because my dad was in Ukraine, so I felt a kind of powerlessness. But I had to accept reality as it is, and I constantly kept in touch with my father.”
Despite everything, he finds some comfort in the support he receives from his WSK teams, Prema Racing and Kart Republic, as well as Williams Racing.
Shortly after Bondarev’s victory in the OK Junior division of the 2023 CIK-FIA Karting European Championship, Williams signed him to their Driver Academy in September.
Williams plans to gradually introduce Bondarev to formula racing by having him compete in the Formula 4 UAE Championship and the Italian F4 Championship after the 2024 karting season concludes.
“Probably the biggest support comes from Williams, which confirms how correct my choice was (to sign with them),” he commented.
It’s also possible that Bondarev is lucky in that he hasn’t had to communicate much with other Russian drivers or team members. Shortly after the invasion, most international athletic bodies imposed limitations on Russian athletes; however, several of these bodies have since relaxed their rules, allowing Russian athletes to compete under the identity of another country.
As a result, there are several examples of Ukrainians objecting to situations in which they would confront a Russian or correct them afterwards.
The Olympic Committee of Ukraine has advised its rivals to stay away from Russia. In the world of racing, Ukrainian veteran of the Dakar Rally Vadim Pritulyak abstained from a round of the Abu Dhabi Baja Challenge in January, which also featured Russian and fellow Dakar alumnus Sergei Kariakin.
“After the full-scale invasion began, I have practically no communication with them,” Bondarev stated. “If I am forced to talk to someone, it is only because of the race, but in general, communication, if any, is minimal. Personally, no one approaches on their initiative, either they ignore [the war] or pretend that nothing happened.”
Chairman of the Ukrainian Karting Committee, is spearheading the initiative, which featured a raffle with a cap signed by the legendary F1 driver Michael Schumacher, which sold for more than USD$40,000 (€37,276, or around ₹1.6 million).
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