Lia Block reflects on huge F1 Academy milestone: "Long time coming"

Williams Driver Academy's Lia Block reflected on her first F1 Academy podium, branding the milestone a "long time coming" as she celebrated her Zandvoort weekend.

The American driver made her debut in the all-female racing series in 2024 after successful stints in rally, Nitrocross and Extreme E. 

Starting from third on the reverse grid for Race 1 on Saturday, Block took second place from Tina Hausmann at the first corner and defended the position against Ferrari Driver Academy member Maya Weug, who had an impressive surge from eighth to third in the latter stages of the race. 

“It’s been a long time coming,” Block said after securing second place. “Singapore last year was so close in that first race, so I feel relieved to be here. Just happy for the team as well, we got to grab some good points.

“It was a clean race. Maya and I had a good battle in the last two laps, my rear tyres were going so I’m really happy to be here and I hope we keep this momentum going into the next race this weekend.”

She added: “I just wanted to save my tyres a little bit on our run plan to finish at the end. P2 is P2, I want to start on the podium first before going for a win.

“We’re not really going for the title that much anymore, so it’s kind of just a risk it for the biscuit thing. That’s my mentality going into tomorrow.”

Lia Block, ART Grand Prix

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

After her second-place finish in Race 1, Block finished Race 2 in 12th.

“I’ve matured, that’s for sure. As a driver and as a person. It’s been a long two years and a season and a half so far. It’s been a struggle, honestly we did not start the season the way we wanted it to. Unlucky stuff has happened one after another, so I’m really glad to be turning that luck around and this is the redemption arc.”

Before the weekend at Zandvoort, Block sat 10th in the drivers' standings. But her strong performance on Saturday saw her move to ninth with 23 points.