After previously partnering with Formula 1, the LEGO Group has now also signed a multi-year deal with the F1 Academy racing class. The renowned Danish toy manufacturer will join the grid with its new team, LEGO Racing, from 2026, with Dutch driver Esmee Kosterman at the helm. This marks Kosterman’s debut as a permanent driver in the women’s feeder series.
The LEGO Group and the F1 Academy hope their new collaboration will inspire young fans, particularly girls, through ‘creative play and representation’. In addition to the debut of the LEGO Group – through the newly established LEGO Racing – in the F1 Academy, the toy manufacturer is also releasing a new LEGO set in collaboration with the women’s racing class.
Debut of Kosterman
The LEGO Racing car will be driven by Dutch driver Esmee Kosterman in 2026. This allows the driver to make her full-time debut in the F1 Academy. Earlier this year, she already drove in the feeder series for the first time, thanks to a Wild Card, during the Grand Prix weekend at Zandvoort. Kosterman was previously the first female driver to win the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup series in karting in 2023.
The collaboration between the F1 Academy and LEGO was presented prior to the Grand Prix weekend in Las Vegas by F1 Academy Chairwoman Susie Wolff and LEGO Marketing Director Julia Goldin. “We are very proud to welcome the LEGO Group as an official partner of the F1 Academy,” Wolff begins in the press release. “This partnership is not just about the opportunity to build an F1 Academy LEGO car, but also about creating belief in what is possible. We hope that every young girl who picks up these building blocks sees more than just a model. We hope she sees herself, her potential, and her place in the world of motorsport, whether as a fan, engineer, driver, or leader.”
