Academy Report: Lia Block's Dutch Podium Delight

Zandvoort has become a very special place for Lia Block, Williams Racing Driver Academy's representative in F1 Academy.

Lia reached the podium at the Dutch circuit on Saturday to record her first rostrum visit in the championship and in single-seater racing.

Continue reading below to see how Lia's return to F1 Academy racing after a long break took her to champagne celebrations.

Super Sector 1 starts weren't limited to Alex Albon in Zandvoort, with Lia demonstrating how to jump up the order one day before the Dutch GP.

Our American teenager began the reverse-grid Race 1 from the second row after qualifying P6 on a drying track with a tidy lap on Friday.

That P3 start already meant silverware would come Lia's way if she held her own during the race, and it looked like she'd need to fend off advances from behind from a slow getaway after lights out.

Lia soon turned that around, though, as she bravely went for a move on Tina Hausmann around the outside of the 180-degree Turn 1 Tarzan hairpin to push for P2.

With Hausmann also defending the inside line, Lia swept by into second place and began probing for the lead as the twisty track continued into Sector 2.

That early pace paused after Hausmann slid off the road to cause an early Safety Car, and Lia navigated the restart without issue and continued keeping close to leader Nina Gademan.

Meanwhile, championship challenger Maya Weug was speeding up the order behind, overtaking Doriane Pin and Ella Lloyd to reach P3 and began closing in on Lia's ART car.

The Dutch driver reached Lia on the final three laps and heaped pressure on her rear wing, attacking at Turn 1 and Turn 11 before slipstreaming behind to the finish line.

Lia held firm, though, and crossed the line 0.127 ahead to record a well-earned P2 finish to reach the podium with two home racers Gademan and Weug.

Watched on by Jamie Chadwick and other Williams personnel from below, Lia's face was one of joy on the Zandvoort podium as she celebrated.

She leaves the weekend with eight more points after a penalty for a false start wrote off Race 2, and she now sits P9 in the standings with two rounds remaining.

It's back to the site of Lia's F1 Academy best weekend so far next, with an equatorial trip to Singapore.

Last year netted a double P4 finish, where Lia was agonisingly close to her maiden podium.

Now with that silverware monkey off her back, could she grab another trophy over the October 3-5 weekend?