Williams junior driver forced to quit series after funding issue emerges

Despite winning two races in his debut Formula 2 campaign, Williams junior driver Zak O’Sullivan has been forced to withdraw from the series due to funding issues.

His announcement means he will miss the final three rounds of the championship where O’Sullivan is P13 in the Drivers’ standings.

Zak O’Sullivan won two races in F2 but won’t see out the season

O’Sullivan was signed to the Williams Driver Academy two years ago and went on to race in Formula 3 with Carlin and then Prema, finishing second in the 2023 championship behind Gabriel Bortoleto.

In 2023, he also had his first F1 Grand Prix outing when he drove the Williams FW45 in FP1 in Abu Dhabi before climbing back into the cockpit for the young driver test.

He stepped up to Formula 2 this season with ART Grand Prix and won the Monaco feature race before adding a second victory at Spa’s sprint event to sit P13 in the standings with three rounds remaining.

However, O’Sullivan will not see out those three rounds as he’s announced he has had to withdraw.

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He confirmed the news on X, saying: “Firstly, I want to thank ART GP and Williams Racing for all of the support they have given me.

“This year we have had some incredible moments, multiple wins and a big highlight of winning the feature race in Monaco.

“Unfortunately in our sport, there are more factors at play than just the stopwatch. The simple issue comes down to funding, I won’t be able to complete this F2 season with ART GP.

“I’m gutted to not be able to show my talents for the rest of the year, but I want to say thank you to all of my sponsors, Williams Racing and all of the supporters who are alongside me during this journey. Your support has been invaluable and I can’t wait to be able to drive for you and with you again soon.”

Williams have yet to publicly comment on O’Sullivan’s news or what it means for his future with the F1 team.

Although he remains a Williams junior, the F1 team has their line-up for the foreseeable future locked in with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz both on multi-year deals.

The team also has Franco Colapinto in their line-up with the Argentinian called up to replace the axed Logan Sargeant for the final nine races of the 2024 F1 World Championship with the 21-year-old P12 on his debut at the Italian Grand Prix.

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