Taking the Track with F1 Academy Driver Lia Block

In the high-octane world of Formula 1, talent is honed from an early age. But the sport has historically attracted and nurtured male drivers, leading to a noticeable absence of women taking the track. Enter the F1 Academy, a breeding ground for the next generation of female racing hopefuls.

The F1 Academy racing series is making its debut on American soil at the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix later this month, and one of its most promising drivers is a 17-year-old American named Lia Block.

Block discovered her passion for racing at a young age. She was just 6 years old when she started competing in karting races in her hometown of Park City, Utah. By the time she turned 11, she was a contender in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, which features short-course off-road competitions.

Block comes by her racing chops naturally; her father, Ken Block, was an American professional rally driver for Hoonigan Racing. “I traveled around the world with my dad when he was racing in the World Rally Championship in World Rallycross and Global Rallycross,” Block recalls. “I kind of just got sucked in.”

Still, Block says her father never pressured her to choose racing as a profession. “I tried every sport possible,” she says with a laugh.

But soon enough, she was invited to drive her dad’s famed Hoonicorn—a rebuilt 1965 Ford Mustang V2 fitted with a rally-derived all-wheel drive system and methanol-fed twin-turbo 1,400-horsepower engines. The custom-built car became legendary among racing enthusiasts, so the Hoonigan Racing Team created a YouTube series known as Hoonicorn vs. the World , pitting the souped-up Mustang against some of the world’s fastest vehicles (think: a McLaren Senna, an Audi RS3 dragster, and a Corvette Z06 swapped ’71 Caprice on 28-inch wheels with a basketball-size turbo engine).

The series (which had the look and feel of a real-life video game, matching up cars that were unlikely to ever go head-to-head otherwise) soon spawned a second season, featuring 14-year-old Block behind the wheel of the Hoonicorn.

“That was a big turning point,” she recalls. “I realized, ‘Wait, I really enjoy this. That’s when it hit me that [racing] could be an actual career for me. It’s something that I can make money [doing], but I can also have fun doing it.”

Block says that although she’s noticed the general lack of women on the track over the years, it hasn’t fazed her. “I never thought of any limitations,” she says. She credits her dad with instilling confidence in her. “He was always just showing me the way, giving me opportunities, and opening doors for me. Then he would stand back and let me figure out what I liked and what I didn’t.”

Growing up around the sport gave Block a way to see her future in racing regardless of her gender. “Instead of being like, ‘I can’t do this because I’m a girl,’ I just took the small steps around me, and that slowly made my world of motorsports grow a little bit bigger each time,” she says.

But not every little girl who aspires to race professionally has the kind of support Block enjoyed. That’s why F1 Academy was founded in 2023. The female-only single-seater championship series aims to support the development of women drivers between the ages of 16 and 25. Directed by former Williams Racing test driver Susie Wolff, the program hopes to transition women who are excelling on the karting circuit into successful careers in single-seater racing. Female drivers can take the experience they gain through their participation in F1 Academy to springboard to higher levels of competition like Formula 3 and beyond.

Earlier this year, Williams Racing selected Block as its sponsored F1 Academy driver. Sven Smeets, sporting director for Williams Racing, says he’s been impressed by her progress. “We [selected] Lia because of her performances that she had in rallycross,” he explains. “It was very clear that she had a lot of talent. We knew that there was some work to do to convert her to single-seated driving, but if you look at the path that Lia has walked for the last four months, she’s made incredible improvements. I think there’s only good things to come.”

For Block, the support of Williams Racing and F1 Academy is everything. “I’ve always competed against guys my entire life,” she says. “But F1 Academy is awesome because it’s this movement to bring more women into the motorsport world. It’s giving us a step into Formula 1 and open-wheel racing. And it lets everyone know that there can be opportunities for everyone to get into racing.”

F1 fans in Miami will get their first in-person look at the F1 Academy series during the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix May 3-5—including practice rounds, qualifying rounds, and two 30-minute races.

“We are delighted to have F1 Academy as part of the 2024 track lineup for the Miami Grand Prix,” says Tyler Epp, president of the Miami Grand Prix. “Not only does it provide more exciting track action for our fans, but the series also marks the importance of diversifying the sport. It’s fantastic to see an incredible lineup of young female racers who I’m sure are inspiring the next generation.”

To prepare to take Miami’s 19-turn track, Block has dedicated herself to training—from hours spent in a series of racing simulators that help her get ready for the next racetrack, to days’ worth of targeted workouts that strengthen her body.

“Open-wheel racing requires a lot of physical preparation,” she says, explaining that building up the neck, shoulder, and chest muscles is critical for driver stamina. “When you’re fatigued and you’re just focusing on trying to drive the car, you can’t focus on also trying to go fast,” Block says. “The training that we do in the gym is very important just for our ability to drive the car.”

When she’s not working out, flying to the outskirts of Paris to train in her team’s simulator, or jetting to compete in F1 Academy series races in Saudi Arabia or the Netherlands, Block is still a normal teenager—working on her high school courses online and hanging with family and friends. “My mom says if I don’t get on the honor roll every quarter, then I don’t get to race,” Block says, laughing. “That’s a big motivation for me to get the schoolwork done.”

As for the fact that Block is racing stateside in Miami for the first time (as one of only two American F1 Academy participants), Smeets says the Williams team will work to keep her nerves from getting the best of her so she can make the most of the experience.

“There will be a little bit more pressure for Lia when she competes for the first time in the F1 Academy on American soil [in Miami],” he admits. “But this year is a learning year. For learning, you need to drive, which means you need to finish every race. It’s pressure, but it’s good to see how drivers cope with that kind of pressure.”

Block says that, pressure aside, she’s excited to put on a show in Miami—and to serve as a role model to other women who want to race. “Being a role model is a bit weird for me,” she says. “My dad was my role model, but there wasn’t really a big female role model in motorsports back then. I think it’s a cool thing that I get to be that for some girls.”

Behind the wheel, though, Block will be all business. “I won’t be thinking about being a role model once I’m in the car. I’ll be thinking, ‘Don’t mess it up. Please don’t put it in the wall. Everybody’s watching.’”

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