Open Lia Block’s Instagram on any given day, and there’s a good chance you’ll find her at a distinct race course somewhere on the planet. Block, who is the 17-year-old daughter of the late Ken Block, spent her 2023 on an absolute tear, becoming the youngest person to win the American Rally Association championship while also contesting events in Extreme E and Nitrocross. Next on her list, though, is a brand-new challenge: F1 Academy.
Full disclosure: Extreme E invited me to Chile to cover the 2023 season finale. They covered the cost of my flights and hotels, shuttled me into the midst of a copper mine, and organized interviews on my behalf.
Block recently agreed to represent Williams Racing in F1 Academy, the all-woman open-wheel series that will feature Formula 1 team involvement in 2024, its second year of competition. In addition, Block has become part of the Williams Driver Academy.
“I am so excited to be joining the Williams Driver Academy and competing in F1 Academy in 2024,” Block said at the time of the F1A 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.”
Coming from a formidable racing dynasty, Block has essentially grown up in the paddocks of different circuits around the country, but upon reaching her teenage years, Block began carving out her own space in the motorsport world.
“It’s hard,” she admitted to me during a round-table interview at Extreme E’s finale in Chile. “I’ve been home a total of five days in the last three months — but I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t love it. It’s a bit hard with schoolwork; I travel so much on planes trying to get as much done as possible.”
Block’s career thus far has largely been confined to the off-road and rallycross disciplines, which made her interest in F1A so surprising to many of her fans. However, Block sees this as yet another step in her overall aim to become the best driver she can be.
“I’m here to take in all these different experiences, learn as much as possible, and apply those lessons wherever I go. Seat time is seat time, whether it’s an Extreme E car, a formula car, at Nitro [Rallycross], helps in some way,” she told Jalopnik. “This year has been dipping my toes into any motorsport I can get, just seeing what paths are out there and what I like.”
Obviously, winning an ARA title at 16 proves that Block is a more than capable competitor in one discipline — but she’s ready to take on her next challenge.
“Going into next year, F1A will be my focus,” she said. ‘”I want to make that experience as fun for me as possible, and to get the most out of it.”
Will we still see Lia Block getting sideways on an off-road circuit in the future? She isn’t ruling it out, but Block has reoriented her priorities for 2024.
“Since I signed the contract with Williams, I told them that they’re my 100-percent focus,” she said. “Anything else on the side is just going to be a little hobby for me.”