‘I was happy about that’ – Block reveals crucial approach behind her first F1 ACADEMY victory

It’s been a long road to the top step but Lia Block finally made it, crossing the line to take a dominant first victory in her 25th F1 ACADEMY race in Singapore.

Block refused to let anyone come close to depriving her of the win in Race 1. Starting on reverse grid pole after qualifying in eighth, the Williams driver firmly defended her place against teammate Aurelia Nobels and outsmarted those behind her across two Safety Car restarts.

Becoming ART Grand Prix’s first winner in the series since Lena Bühler at Race 2 in Monza two years ago, Block was relieved to have turned her weekend around in such an impressive fashion.

“I feel great,” she began. "It wasn’t a great Qualifying or start to the weekend yesterday, but topping it off with a win, so I can go home now! Just kidding, I still have another race.

“It was a difficult first half of the race. Thankfully, there was a lot of fighting behind me, so I could just focus on myself. I figured some stuff out, got some more time out of the car and chilled to the end.

“I was looking in my mirrors a couple of times to see how close Maya was, but I just kept focusing on myself. It was pretty easy to the end, no squabbles, one lockup but we did it.”

It was during the two Safety Car restarts where Block truly outclassed the field. Leaving the other drivers little time to prepare on Lap 3, the American pulled away early out of Turn 16 and then gambled on the opposite approach on Lap 10 by keeping the pack tightly together until the final corner.

Detailing her approach to the restarts, Block explained: “Here it’s just about trying to catch people off-guard because there are not many places to strategically do a restart. I was just waiting for Maya to weave in my mirrors and then floor it from there. Both of my restarts were pretty good. I was happy about that — gave me some breathing room for sure.”

READ MORE: RACE 1: Block in full control to take maiden F1 ACADEMY victory in Singapore

A belated birthday present for Block, who turned 19 years old on Wednesday, has seen her become the eighth different winner this year and the 18th in the series’ history. After scoring her first podium during the previous round in Zandvoort, the Williams driver reflected on the journey she’s been on since she first started in single-seaters in F1 ACADEMY last year.

“It’s full circle now,” said Block. “I started from the bottom and now we’re at the top. It feels really good. Just means I have to work 10 times harder tomorrow to get another good result, but super happy with this.”