While Oleksandr Bondarev is enjoying a burgeoning career in karting as the first Ukrainian signed to a Formula One team, it has also been a difficult period for him as his country continues to fight against Russian invasion. In an interview with Tribuna.com, Bondarev said he felt a “huge shock” at everything that transpired back home and is thankful that his teams have his back.
“I am Ukrainian, was born in Kyiv, my whole family is from Ukraine,” he began. “I try to support my country in such difficult times. I climb onto every podium with the Ukrainian flag, and I also took part in the Race for Ukraine charity run in England.”
When the full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022, Bondarev was in Italy—where he currently lives with his mother—to compete in the inaugural Champions of the Future Winter Series‘ season opener at Franciacorta Karting Track. Practice took place the same day of the invasion’s start; he finished second in the OK Junior category’s Super Heat two days later followed by twenty-eighth in the Final after being forced off course on the final lap.
“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.”
In spite of the circumstances, he does find some solace in his WSK teams Prema Racing and Kart Republic as well as Williams Racing lending their assistance. Williams signed Bondarev to their Driver Academy last September, shortly after he won the 2023 CIK-FIA Karting European Championship in OK Junior. Once the 2024 karting season ends, Williams intend to ease Bondarev into formula racing by competing in the Italian F4 Championship and the Formula 4 UAE Championship.
“Probably the biggest support comes from Williams, which confirms how correct my choice was (to sign with them),” he commented.
Bondarev is also perhaps fortunate that he has not had to talk much with other Russian drivers or team personnel. Most international sporting bodies placed restrictions on Russian athletes shortly after the invasion, though some since loosened their policies to allow them to compete with a different nationality. The FIA allows Russian and Belarusian drivers to race under their sanction but only if they condemn the war and use a neutral flag.
Consequently, there are various instances of Ukrainians protesting events wherein they would go up against a Russian or rebuking them afterwards. With Russians permitted at the upcoming Summer Olympics (albeit as “Individual Neutral Athletes”), Ukraine’s Olympic Committee warned its competitors to avoid contact with them. In the racing world, Ukrainian Dakar Rally veteran Vadim Pritulyak boycotted a round of the Abu Dhabi Baja Challenge in January in which the Russian and fellow Dakar alumnus Sergei Kariakin also participated.
“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.”
In March, he made a guest appearance on the Underground LIVE stand-up programme to fundraise for a reconnaissance drone that would be donated to the Second International Legion of Defence of Ukraine. The effort is led by Olexandr Petrenko, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Karting Committee, and included raffling off a cap autographed by F1 great Michael Schumacher that went for over USD$40,000 (€37,276, or roughly ₴1.6 million).
Bondarev is currently ninth in the FIA’s International Karting Ranking.
