Esmee Kosterman’s LEGO Group-backed 2026 F1 Academy campaign will be run by MP Motorsport, as the promising Dutch driver teams up with her home team for her first full season in the increasingly popular F1 Grand Prix-supporting series that champions the next generation of female motor racing talent.
The 20-year-old from Wijk bij Duurstede made her F1 Academy debut as a wildcard driver last year by producing two stellar performances that resulted in her first points finish with seventh at Zandvoort. Now going into her first full season with previously announced support from legendary Danish construction toys manufacturer LEGO Group, Esmee Kosterman aims to build on her star debut while teaming up with MP Motorsport to join Alba Larsen and Nina Gademan in a strong three-car F1 Academy line-up for the Dutch team.
“I’m extremely honoured to represent LEGO Group and team up with my home team of MP Motorsport for my debut season in F1 Academy”, said Kosterman. “MP have been F1 Academy frontrunners from the start, so I’m going into the winter break with lots of confidence and determination to be best prepared for the season opener at Shanghai. The goal is definitely to score more points finishes and hopefully come up with a few surprises as the season progresses!”
“It’s wonderful news that Esmee and LEGO Group will join us for the 2026 F1 Academy season”, said Sander Dorsman, MP Motorsport’s team principal. “Esmee’s spectacular debut at Zandvoort last year was a sign of things to come, and we’re looking forward to working with Esmee to extract even more pace and performance from her. We’re also welcoming LEGO Group to the F1 Academy family, and will do everything to support their journey in motorsport, as they aim to inspire young people to be in control of building their own future.”
Before she entered the F1 Academy fray last year, Kosterman was a points scorer in the British F4 Championship, having made her single-seater debut in a one-off appearance in the Indian F4 Championship at the end of 2024. In the three years before, Kosterman raced in her local Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup as a junior on the Dutch federation’s talent support programme, winning at Assen and Spa in 2023, becoming the first female driver to claim a win in the series while claiming third in that season’s the final standings. The next year, Kosterman also finished as the best female driver in the Lamera Cup. In her karting career preceding that, Kosterman finished runner-up in the 2017 Dutch Karting Championship and went on to represent the Netherlands in the 2018 Karting Academy Trophy. In 2020, she was also part of the inaugural FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars shootout.
