Daughter of late rally legend Ken Block, Lia Block is carving her path in F1’s Academy series. Beyond just winning races, the 17-year-old has the dream to become the first female American driver in F1. Here’s everything you need to know about this rising star.
At the age of 17, Lia Block has accomplished immense in racing than many others will in their lifetime. The daughter of the late racing legend Ken Block, she has a strong background in various motorsport disciplines. It is an exciting year for Lia, as she recently joined the Williams Driver Academy to compete in the 2024 F1 Academy season with the ART Grand Prix team.
17-YEAR-OLD LIA BLOCK COMPETES IN F1 ACADEMY
Lia began karting for fun at five years old, and quickly transitioned to off-road racing at 11. After travelling around the world with her father Ken Block, one of the most popular racers, she began showing interest in racing by herself. Speaking to Dailymail, she said, “My dad always opened the doors for me, but never forced me to do anything. So I went off and tried every other sport I could, but eventually made it back to [motorsport] when I was about 10 or 11. So I think that made me want it even more because I had tried all these different things, but coming back to motorsport was truly like I knew what I wanted to do.”
Ken Block, Lia’s dad was a professional rally driver with Hoonigan Racing Division as well as the co-founder of DC Shoes. He was the one who introduced Lisa to this profession and also became his inspiration for competing in motorsports.
LIA BLOCK’S DEVELOPEMENTS IN HER CAREER
Lia began rallying at 15 and by the age of 16, she had won the American Rally Association Championship. She has also climbed Pikes Peak and competed in the Baja 100 with her mother, Lucy. She has also raced in the nitrocross as well as in the electric rallying series Extreme E.
All eyes on this young racer to shine in F1 Academy, which is a female-only singer-seater racing championship founded by Formula One. She’s got plenty of success and experience in the off-roading world and now she has finally gotten into open wheelers.
Lia is quite excited about the opportunity and said, “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.”