Academy Report: Lusail racing for Lia and Luke

A doubleheader of rounds for the Williams Racing Driver Academy kicked off in Qatar as Formula 2 and F1 Academy resumed racing after a lengthy break.

Lia Block and Luke Browning were our two drivers who took to Lusail, with each making their competitive debut at the circuit.

Safety Cars, strategy gambles, spins, and a cancelled race made for a busy time on the outskirts of Doha.

Here's how the pair handled their first experience of Qatari racing.

Lia's time in F1 Academy's in-season test at the Lusail International Circuit ahead of the championship's penultimate round helped her to more 2024 points.

Our American racer took another P4 start for Race 1, only qualifying behind the three championship leaders, as she found strong single-lap speed.

A slightly slow getaway from the line late on Saturday night saw Lia slip back two places by the Turn 1 apex, but she confidently fought off further attacks from behind.

Soaking up pressure, Lia's only misstep was a wide moment on Lap 2, but she maintained pace to cross the line in P6 for eight more points for her rookie campaign.

Any hopes for another top-10 finish on Sunday couldn't come to fruition, however, after a crash in another event ultimately cancelling Race 2 on Sunday.

Some Friday spins left Luke with more work to do than he'd have liked in the weekend's two races, but he still drove with confidence to avoid carnage and bring the car home in only his second F2 weekend.

The British hopeful qualified in P16, and a mixture of tyre strategies in the Sprint Race and Safety Cars in the Feature Race helped and hindered his progress.

Sticking with Pirelli's hard compound on Saturday helped Luke to keep his speed throughout the 23 laps, including a VSC and late-race Safety Car.

He crossed the line in P12, with a post-race penalty for a rival promoting Luke to P11 by the final classification.

Starting on the hards in the Feature Race didn't work out for reasons out of his control after two early Safety Car slowdowns to help the medium-equipped runners instead.

Some speedy laps after Luke's eventually stopped for fresh rubber had him sitting with the Fastest Lap, but Ollie Bearman snatched that away on the last tour after the 2025 Haas driver pitted just before the clock ran down.

It's now a quick turnaround for Lia and Luke as Abu Dhabi awaits for the season's final days of action.