Lia’s “strong progression” impresses JV

Lia Block’s maiden season behind the wheel of single-seater race cars has caught the eyes of many in the motorsport world.

Leaving the dirt behind for asphalt was always going to be a steep learning curve for the 17-year-old, but the rate of her progression has been impressive.

This was evident in Singapore last weekend when Lia converted her two P4 Qualifying results to a pair of P4 finishes in both races.

Answering a question submitted by a fan for the latest episode of The Vowles Verdict, presented by Kraken, James Vowles highlighted the Williams Academy Driver’s rapid development.

“Lia is progressing incredibly well,” James commented, “If you look at the number of days that she’s had in a single-seater car, it’s limited. I think we are now at 20 days or so, but it's just not at a large amount.

“She had two fourth-place finishes in Singapore, and I was watching both of them. I was on the pit wall for the first of those two.

“She drove well, she likes street tracks. She actually came up to me before the Singapore weekend and was really happy that she was there, she feels comfortable with a wall next to her, it seems!

“And you’ve seen her perform [in 2024] very well in conditions where it has been wet or unpredictable, and she really comes to the fore.”

Lia’s season-best results of two P4 finishes saw her shoot up the standings, now sitting in P8 with 36 points to her name.

However, James knows this is only the beginning for Lia and is immensely excited by what the future holds for our Utahn racer.

"More importantly what you’re seeing from Lia this year is really strong progression, and she hasn’t finished yet.

“She’s moved up in the Championship and we’ve still got a few rounds left to go and she knows what the goal is. The goal is to be ahead and to win.

“There’s a little bit more to come from her, there’s a little bit more to come from the team, but it’s a multi-year project and I can’t wait to see how she progresses.”

Lia returns behind the wheel of her #57 F1 Academy machine at the end of November for the penultimate round of the season in Qatar.