Lia Block, daughter of the late American rallying legend Ken Block, has been recruited by Williams Racing for the 2024 F1 Academy season. The 17-year-old will represent Williams Academy, driving with the ART Grand Prix team next year alongside McLaren junior Bianca Bustamante.
“I am so excited to be joining the Williams Driver Academy and competing in F1 Academy in 2024. This is something I never could have dreamed of. I can’t wait to embrace this new experience and learn as much as possible,” said an ecstatic Block.
Lia is already an accomplished driver across numerous disciplines, having started her karting career at the age of 11. She started competing in rallying in late 2021 and debuted in the Extreme E rallying series in 2023 for Carl Cox Motorsports. She won the 2023 American Rally Association (ARA) Open Two-Wheel Drive class to become the youngest ARA champion in history. 2024 will see the 17-year-old undertake her first full season in open-wheel racing.
Sharing his thoughts on the occasion, James Vowles, Williams’ Team Principal said, “We are excited to welcome Lia to Williams Racing as our F1 Academy driver for 2024. Lia has already achieved a tremendous amount in motorsport, has incredible natural talent, and has the champion mindset and dedication to make a success of her journey into open-wheel racing. We cannot wait to get started on this journey together. As a team, we are committed to Formula 1 and F1 Academy’s joint efforts to improve female representation in motorsport, and we look forward to working with Lia as a key part of the Williams Racing Driver Academy.”
To this, ART Grand Prix Team Principal Sebastien Philippe added, “Extreme sports are part of Lia’s DNA and her debut in high-profile international competitions attest to her talent and her adaptability to a wide range of demanding environments. At 17 years old, Lia is driven with a great determination and an appetite for major challenges that should allow her to quickly find her place on our team and in the F1 Academy.”
What is F1 Academy?
F1 Academy is a female-only single-seater racing championship announced by F1 in November 2022. In March 2023, Susie Wolff (wife of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff) was appointed the Managing Director of the series.
The series is aimed at developing and preparing young drivers to progress to higher levels of single-seater racing. At the time of inception, the series was confirmed to consist of five teams, each fielding three cars to make up a 15-car grid. The inaugural 2023 F1 Academy season saw teams like ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, Rodin Carlin, MP Motorsport, and Prema Racing compete in it.
For the 2024 season, all ten F1 teams will be supporting a driver each and will have the team’s livery on their car. The remaining five drivers will be supported by other partners. All seven rounds of the F1 Academy championship will support F1 races across Europe, Asia, and North America, with the championship commencing in Saudi Arabia before taking in rounds at Miami, Barcelona, Zandvoort, Singapore, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.