Today Williams announced that 17 year old Lia Block, daughter of late rally legend Ken Block will represent the team for the 2024 F1 Academy season. She will race with ART Grand Prix for the 2024 season. The move will mark her first season of open wheel racing ever. In addition coming from a strong pedigree of racing Block has a plethora of experience in the karting world, rallycross, rally and Extreme-E.
An excited Lia Block had the following words about the opportunity, “I am so excited to be joining the Williams Driver Academy and competing in F1 Academy in 2024,” she shared following the announcement. This is something I never could have dreamed of. I can’t wait to embrace this new experience and learn as much as possible.”
James Vowles, Team Principal, Williams Racing: “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 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.”
The F1 Academy series will race at 7 Formula one rounds next season starting in Saudi Arabia before heading to Miami, Barcelona, Zandvoort, Singapore, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.