Name: WATCH: Lia Block is given a tour of Grove by Jamie Chadwick
Uploaded: 2023-12-29T15:01:09.196Z
Description: Lia Block is given the full Williams Racing Grove experience ahead of her debut season in F1 Academy.

Lia Block is given the full Grove experience ahead of her debut season in F1 Academy, as Jamie Chadwick shows her the factory, before a sit down with James Vowles to look ahead to her 2024 campaign. 

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Lia has grown up in the motorsport world and spent many of her childhood years in the paddock. She began racing karts at 11 years old and entered her first off-road racing series in the same year.

Lia then started drifting cars at 13 years old and assumed drag-racing duties in the famous 1,400HP Mustang ‘Hoonicorn’ the year after.
She continued to build her skills in off-road racing and karting, becoming a front-runner in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Series’ lower classes by 2021 and taking multiple karting wins.

She later took part in the final round of the 2021 American Rally Association Championship in the Oregon Trail Rally as a 15-year-old, for the Hoonigan Racing Division, marking her first national-level rally.

Lia undertook more regular rallying in 2022 as part of the ARA championship, a season which included her best finish at the Southern Ohio Forest Rally where she placed 9th overall and 3rd in the O2WD class.

This proved an even more successful event for her in the 2023 season, achieving a 6th place finish overall and a victory in the O2WD class.

With two rallies to go, Lia secured the 2023 ARA O2WD championship to become the youngest ARA champion in history.

2023 has been a busy year for Lia, competing in Extreme E as part of Carl Cox Motorsport for the second half of the season alongside Timo Scheider. She has also begun her first season in Nitrocross NEXT, the junior category of the championship previously known as Nitro Rallycross.

In November 2023, it was announced that Lia will compete in the 2024 F1 Academy season with ART Grand Prix, as well as coming onboard as a Williams Racing Academy Driver.

Later in the month, Lia competed in the Baja 1000 alongside her mother Lucy Block and the Block House Racing Team. Lia and the team raced to victory following a grueling 34 hours of rally racing in Mexico.

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Lia Block

Jamie’s interest in motorsport started on the karting track in 2010 where she achieved numerous wins and podiums at club level in the Junior series. She had a talent from a young age and went on to win the Ginetta Junior Scholarship in 2013.

In 2015, Jamie stepped up to the British GT Championship, driving an Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4 with Beechdean Motorsport. She secured the title in her first year and became the first female to win a British GT Championship. To mark this achievement, she was selected to be part of the Aston Martin Racing Driver Evolution Academy and invited by the British Racing Drivers’ Club to become a ‘Rising Star’.

In 2016, Jamie continued to drive in five rounds of the British GP Championship in Pro Am with ‘Bake Off’ TV celebrity Paul Hollywood, whilst completing her A-level studies at Cheltenham College. She also qualified for her Nordschleife Race Permit.

In 2017, she graduated into singles-seaters, competing in the British Formula 3 Championship. Jamie opened up her rookie season with a podium at Rockingham and finished ninth in the Championship.

In 2018, Jamie continued in British F3, this time with Douglas Motorsport, and became the first woman to win a race in the category as she claimed victory at Brands Hatch. Later that year Jamie entered the MRF Winter Series racing at three venues in Dubai, Bahrain and Madras, where she won the Title in January 2019.

In 2019, Jamie claimed the inaugural W Series title, and enjoyed further success driving in a class winning team at the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race in Germany. In addition to her racing, Jamie was a Development Driver for the Williams Racing Driver Academy throughout the year, undertaking work in the simulator at Grove.

In a heavily altered 2020, Jamie took part in Asian F3 during the winter months. In 2021, Jamie successfully defended her W Series title with four wins across the eight-race second series that had joined the Formula One calendar for the first time. In fact, Jamie featured on all but one podium across the campaign.

In addition to this, Jamie competed as Veloce Racing's female driver in the new electric off-road racing series, Extreme E – her high point being a P2 finish at the Ocean X-Prix in Senegal.

Jamie drove for Jenner Racing in the 2022 W Series season, where she claimed a third consecutive title, winning 5 races and securing 6 podiums.

In 2023, Jamie competed in INDY NXT with Andretti Autosport becoming the first women in 13 years to compete full time in the series. Chadwick scored 262 points across 14 races in her rookie campaign. She also continued as a Williams Racing Academy driver.

For 2024, Jamie has since become a Williams Racing Driver & F1 Academy Adviser and is competing in Indy NXT for a second season after extending her deal to race for Andretti Autosport.


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Jamie Chadwick

Williams

James Vowles

Lia Block is given the full Williams Racing Grove experience ahead of her debut season in F1 Academy.

WATCH: Lia Block is given a tour of Grove by Jamie Chadwick

Lia Block is given the full Grove experience ahead of her debut season in F1 Academy.

WATCH: Lia Block tours Grove with Jamie Chadwick

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WATCH: Lia Block tours Grove with Jamie Chadwick