Esmee Kosterman made her debut in F1 Academy on home soil at the challenging Zandvoort track. While the Hitech driver qualified ninth and finished Race 1 outside of the points in P12, her weekend turned around on Sunday. After a successful outing, Kosterman cinched P7 in Race 2, becoming the first point-scoring Wild Card Entry of the 2025 season.
After the F1 Academy Round at the 2025 Dutch GP, Hitech TGR Team Manager, Dan Hodder, expressed praise for the Dutch driver, stating: “Today was a very mature drive from Esmee. Before the race, the weather conditions looked a bit on-off for the rain. Thankfully, it held off. Today was the first time she was able to do the full race procedure because we had the issue yesterday.”
“She controlled that very well, managed it very well and managed the pace. I think once she got into a rhythm, it was just a really, really mature drive for someone who’s not been in the series all season.”
Impressive in mixed conditions
Kosterman’s six points puts the team’s total for the 2025 F1 Academy season at 12 points. Her successful debut also places her thirteenth in the driver standings. Having worked closely with the Dutch Wild Card Entry before the Zandvoort weekend, most notably during the in-season test, the Hitech team manager expressed pride in Kosterman’s performance.
“The test was very good. The test was very strong for Esmee in the end. Obviously, she’s got a little bit of track knowledge but the driving inputs were really good. She ended the test very well.“
He continued by praising her ability to deal with pressure and her impressive drive around Zandvoort, stating: “Carrying it over to the weekend, you’ve got FP1 and FP2. There’s a bit more pressure on than in testing, so you have to see if it translates. It did translate and just a very mature drive in Qualifying in very tricky conditions. She’s not done a lot of driving in the wet, so to do what she did was very impressive.”
Hodder confident with Hitech’s progress
While the Dutch GP weekend was her F1 Academy debut, the 20-year-old racer has plenty of experience in other categories. Previously this year, Kosterman raced in British F4, and before that, she became the first woman to win the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup Benelux. With her impressive debut in Zandvoort, the TeamViewer-supported driver made her mark in F1 Academy as well.
Dan Hodder believes that Kosterman’s performance illustrated the team’s pace and makes them confident moving into the last few rounds.
“This time it’s obviously paid dividends because she has got some knowledge and she raced here in British F4. In general, it throws a couple of complexities in there where you hope that you don’t have to teach too much driving. But luckily with Esmee, her inputs were good and it was just a really mature, calm and a good professional to work with.”
“The last couple of rounds, maybe even since Miami, have kind of confirmed where we are with the car. We’re happy with where we are. Esmee has kind of proved that this weekend and done a good job. We’re looking forward to Singapore, somewhere we’ve never been before. When you look at grip conditions compared to where we’ve been before, I think we’re going to be in a good place.”
