Lia set for return to action in Montreal

Lia Block will be back in action next weekend, when she heads to Canada for Round 4 of the 2025 F1 Academy season.

The Williams Racing Driver Academy starlet has been representing ART Grand Prix in this year’s all-female competition, having already taken to the track in Shanghai, Jeddah and Miami.

And Lia can build on those previous outings — which included a two-point haul in China — when she visits Quebec from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th June.

The 18-year-old will be bidding to improve on her current rank of 12th in the Drivers’ Championship, and to help ART Grand Prix climb from fifth in the Teams’ Championship — alongside fellow drivers Courtney Crone and Aurelia Nobels.

This is the first year that Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been added to the F1 Academy calendar, however, so it is sure to present some unfamiliar challenges.

The track is renowned for its high-speed straights and testing chicanes, with the super-fast Pont de la Concorde corner at Turn 8 and Turn 10’s iconic Hairpin Curve both particularly noteworthy.

Then there’s the famous ‘Wall of Champions’ at Turn 14 — given its name after three former Drivers’ World Champions went into the outside wall during the 1999 Canadian GP.

Lia will hope to navigate those tests across three days of racing, starting with a Free Practice session on Friday 13th June (11.05am EDT) and Qualifying later that day (6.30pm EDT).

There are then a trio of races scheduled across the weekend, with two on Saturday 14th June (9.15am & 2.50pm EDT) and one on Sunday 15th June (10.55am EDT).

If the Utah native can make an impact in Round 4 then it will provide a significant boost ahead of the season’s three remaining events in Zandvoort, Singapore and Las Vegas, in August, October and November, respectively.

She can certainly take inspiration from last term in that regard, when Lia put in some solid performances in the second half of the campaign — placing P4 twice at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, before finishing P6 the following round in Qatar.

There’s plenty to look forward to when it comes to this year’s F1 Academy, then, starting with next weekend’s tantalising race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.