Competing In F1 Academy, 17YO Lia Block Has Eyes Set On Track

Lia Block recently joined the Williams Driver Academy and will be competing in the 2024 F1 Academy season with the ART Grand Prix team. The daughter of the late racing legend Ken Block, she has a strong background in various motorsport disciplines. It is an exciting season for the 17-year-old American driver as she participates in single-seaters for the first time.

Who Is Lia Block?

Lia began her racing journey in karting at the age of 11, quickly transitioning to off-road racing. She started drifting cars as early as 13 years old and continued to build her motorsport racing skills.

Block participated in the 2021 American Rally Association Championship at just 15 years old. She competed in the championship for the two subsequent years and in 2023 made significant strides by becoming the youngest champion in the series' history at just 17. She has also previously competed in motorsport tournaments such as Extreme E and Nitrocross NEXT.

Lia told SB Nation, “I grew up, travelling around the world with my dad while he raced in WRC [World Rally Championship and the World Rally Cross Championship.”

Ken Block, Lia's dad, was a professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division as well as the co-founder of DC Shoes. He unfortunately died in a snowmobile accident at the beginning of 2023. Ken is reportedly Lia's inspiration for competing in motorsports and also the person who introduced her to it.

She competed in the Baja 1000 in Mexico with her mother Lucy Block and the Block House Racing team, who secured victory after a 34-hour rally racing, last year in November.

Recent developments in her career

Lia has just recently joined the F1 Academy, which is a female-only single-seater racing championship founded by Formula One. She’s racing on the Williams team as number 57.

Lia was ecstatic about the opportunity, saying, “I always grew up watching F1 with my dad and just, it was something kind of unknown to me that I never really got to experience. So, when the opportunity came about, it was just something I definitely couldn’t pass down, kind of like a lottery ticket. Just something I’ve always wanted to do but never had the opportunity.”

All eyes are on the young racer as her promising career flourishes more than ever before.