It takes a lot to leave a former Formula 1 boss speechless, but that’s just what F1 Academy star Lia Block did over the weekend.

Block took Claire Williams out for a spin behind the wheel of a rally-modified Subaru BRZ — and it left the former F1 team principal without any words.

Lia Block leaves Claire Williams speechless in rally drive

“I’m actually speechless, and that doesn’t happen very often.”

Such were the words of Claire Williams, former Formula 1 team principal turned brand representative and talking head after climbing out of a rally-stripped Subaru BRZ driven by none other than Lia Block.

Gushing from a thrilling lap around the DirtFish Rally School in Snoqualmie, Washington, Williams enthused, “That was so cool! I loved that.”

The daughter of the late Frank Williams, Claire grew up surrounded by motorsport — though her background is decidedly in the open-wheel realm, where she served as Williams deputy team principal from 2013 to 2020. As she clutched the interior of the Subaru to hold herself steady, she cried, “My dad would have loved this!”

Block is a Williams junior academy driver, but she and Claire Williams had never met; Block joined the academy after Williams departed from her leadership role. But the two had a chance to bond and talk shop in the cockpit — at least, until Block started to really let loose.

“These are the more fun cars because the back end slips out more,” Block told Williams, referring to the rear-wheel drive BRZ.

“The all-wheel drive cars are much faster, but they don’t get as sideways as these.”

It was a great bonding experience during the annual DirtFish Women in Motorsport Summit.

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If Lia Block’s name sounds familiar, that’s because she traces her heritage to one of the most prominent names in American rally history: the late Ken Block.

Naturally, Lia Block followed in her father’s footsteps when she began pursuing a racing career, bouncing between go-karting and off-road racing when she was just 11 years old.

With natural talent oozing from her performance, Block entered her first professional rally when she was just 15 years old. Two years later, she won the American Rally Association championship — making her the first woman to do so, as well as the youngest driver in history.

But after the passing of her father in a snowmobile accident, Block looked to expand her horizons by joining the open-wheel racing game. In 2024, she joined F1 Academy as part of the Williams team, a transition that she found incredibly difficult.

“In the beginning, I thought it was going to be a bit easier than it actually was,” she told Motorsport.com.

“It’s a completely different motorsport, and I knew nothing about it. I did a bit of karting when I was a kid but nothing to the extent of my competitors when they were younger.

“The challenge is what excites me the most. Not being good at something going into it makes me want it that much more.”

In 2024, Block finished eighth overall in the F1 Academy championship, boasting a best finish of fourth in both F1A rounds in Singapore.

This year, with three events under her belt, Block sits 12th overall, with a best finish of ninth. She’ll be looking to turn her season around at the next event in Montreal, which will be a triple-header to compensate for the cancelation of Race 1 in Miami.

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