The multi-disciplined American driver Lia Block, 17, will be step on the 2024 F1 ladder with the Williams Driver Academy. This will be her first foray into competitive open wheel racing but the young driver already has been making waves across Motorsports.
Three days before the announcement she was standing on the podium in front of a packed house at Wild Horse Pass Motorsport in Phoenix, Arizona with the Nitrocross Series in rally racing. On Tuesday, she was taking her car through tech and contingency for her first Baja 1000. In 2024, she’ll be racing against some of the best young female racers in the world in the hopes of bringing a female American to the F1 grid in the near future.
“Being an American and a female going into open-wheel and F1 Academy is really cool,” Block told NBC Sports while preparing for the Baja 1000. “I get to represent my country as well as females aspiring to do racing and open wheel here in the United States. I hope I can fuel all that and get more women involved.”
For the team based out of the United Kingdom this is not the first time they have backed an American. Williams Racing is the only current F1 team with a seat filled with an American driver. Logan Sargent earned his first point in an F1 race in this year’s USGP at the Circuit of the Americas.
Block’s career started at 11 in karting and she’s been quickly making a name for herself in rally racing. Earlier this fall she became the youngest American Rally Association champion when she and her co-driver Rhiannon Gelsomino took home gold in the 2023 ARA two-Wheel drive class.
This year Block has been focused on Nitrocross, various other disciplines of rally, and Formula E getting important reps in for exactly what it takes to be successful in an international series while developing as a driver.
Due to the different seasons of each series, this winter is filled with interlocking schedules for Block. Her early testing in an open wheel comes between Nitrocross and Formula E dates.
Next year the Academy will race seven races. All will be as in support of F1 Grands Prix. Block will start her season in the second race of the year in Saudi Arabia, followed by rounds at Miami, Barcelona, Zandvoort, Singapore, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
This will be the F1 Academy’s second season, the first being a knockout success that saw Marta Garcia become the first-ever champion. Garcia will now enter the 2024 Formula Renault Eurocup by Alpine series in the leading Prema team. This series works as a needed stepping stone between F4 and F3. The funding for Block’s run at the prestigious series will come partially from the F1 Academy.
This commitment to building up female racers and creating a sustainable stepping stone in the sport is bringing more hope to inspiring competitors and in return will help bring the best racers into the open-wheel system.