As her first F1 Academy season reached its halfway mark, Prema Racing’s Nina Gademan managed to impress once again in 2025. After last year’s Wild Card entry in Zandvoort, the Dutch driver was the only WCD who scored points that season. Therefore, it came as no surprise that the Alpine F1 team offered their support for a whole season in the F1 Academy.
Nonetheless, this support was not in vain. Gademan achieved her best result of the season in Race 1 of the Canadian GP, a third-place finish. Currently, she sits in P8 in the Drivers’ Championship with 33 points accumulated over the first four rounds. However, the Dutch driver is separated by only 3 points from her teammate, Tina Hausmann, who is in her second season in the series. Considering her esports experience and determination, Gademan proved herself on the grid and will only strive to acquire her first race win.
A disappointing start to the season
As the drivers started their 2025 F1 Academy season at a completely new circuit in Shanghai, Nina Gademan wanted to put her best driver forward. Free Practice went on without any issues for her, finishing that session in P5, although, her Qualifying saw her drop slightly to P8. Nevertheless, as Race 1 had the reverse grid system in place, the Dutch driver started her debut season leading the first race.
That is when misfortune hit Gademan. Despite the great start she had that allowed her to keep her lead, a Safety Car brought her back with the rest of the pack. She handled the restart with ease, similarly to the other two Safety Car restarts of that race. A technical issue had her lose the lead she had worked so hard for.
Race 2 was not so different. This time, a collision between herself and Hausmann was the cause of her drop to the back of the grid. Yet, Gademan did her best to recover what was left of her race. That determination brought her back to P10 at the checkered flag.
A good recovery in Saudi Arabia
With one point under her belt after an incredibly frustrating first round, Gademan came back hungry for a race win. Before the Saudi Arabian round, the Dutch driver suffered an accident in testing. This had the team wondering if she should even compete. She kept to the lower half of the grid in FP, and her Qualifying reflected that, as she was only P9.
In Race 1, Nina Gademan battled her injury, but she did claim the last point paying position for a singular point. The second race saw her climb a little bit higher, finishing P7. Some small battles with her teammate, Hausmann, kept her from an even better result. Nevertheless, another 6 points were added to her standings.
The sun was shining on Gademan in Miami
The Miami GP brought immense difficulties to the 2025 F1 Academy grid, as the wet conditions caused chaos for Gademan and the other drivers. The first Free Practice was nothing to write home about for the Alpine-backed driver. Yet, the second session saw Gademan put in a flying lap in the last minutes. This lap had her up into third place for FP1.
The Qualifying session did a number on the drivers because of the rain. Nina Gademan only managed to put her Prema car in P13 for both races. Unexpectedly, the Dutch driver had an incredibly strong recovery, and she finished that first race in P5. This showed that she had what it takes to win. However, Race 2 was cancelled due to the bad weather conditions. Nina Gademan had to pack up, take that ambitious drive, and keep it ready for the fourth round.
A podium at the Canadian GP
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve had the 2025 F1 Academy grid competing in three different races, and Gademan took full advantage of that. As the second race in Miami could not take place, the Stewards decided to hold Race 1 with the grid format the drivers set in the last round. Meanwhile, the Free Practice and Qualifying sessions were quite similar to the other rounds. The Prema driver remained in the upper midfield for both. All changed for Nina Gademan during the first race.
Race 1 had Gademan battling for positions from the get-go. As she barely avoided a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, the Dutch driver climbed the grid all the way up to P4. While she missed out on a podium finish, this was the best result of the 2025 season for Gademan. The second race had Nina Gademan leading, and she was on the way to her first victory. Her first laps were full of overtaking attempts with Chloe Chong, but she kept strong. Everything was set for perfection.
In the final lap of Race 2, Emma Felbermayr attacked Gademan again. The Dutch driver lost the lead. As that moment came out of nowhere, it left Nina Gademan without any defence from Ella Lloyd. The Rodin driver took her by surprise as well. Gademan, unfortunately, lost out on pole, and her race ended with a P3. Race 3 had two incidents between Gademan and Felbermayr. The first caused Gademan to fall back slightly, yet the second earned her a 10-second time penalty. Despite the hardships, the Prema driver did not abandon her race, earning a P9 but later dropping to P13.
Prospects for the last three rounds
While Nina Gademan did not get the chance to climb that top step of the podium, her 2025 season of F1 Academy has her as a formidable contender. With all that determination and some understandable frustrations, the Dutch driver will attempt to finish her debut season as strongly as possible. Therefore, it is very probable to see her fighting for that top spot in the next three rounds. With Zandvoort coming up first, her home race, Gademan will surely put up a good fight, even more set on victory.
