Doriane Pin completes landmark F1 test with Mercedes at Silverstone

F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin took a major step in her career by completing her first Formula 1 test, driving the championship-winning Mercedes W12 at Silverstone. The 22-year-old, who joined Mercedes' driver development programme last year, becomes only the second female driver to test an F1 car this decade, marking a significant moment for diversity in the sport.

Why it matters:

Pin's test represents a tangible investment by a top team in a highly-rated female talent, moving beyond symbolic gestures. For Mercedes, it's a chance to evaluate a driver excelling in endurance racing within an F1 context. For Pin, it's a crucial developmental step and a public signal of her serious potential within the Mercedes system, even as her primary racing focus remains outside single-seaters.

The details:

• Pin drove the 2021 title-winning Mercedes W12 during a private Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) session at Silverstone.
• She is an official development driver for the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team in 2025, a role that includes simulator work alongside drivers like Frederik Vesti.
• Her path to this point is unique: she made her name in endurance racing before switching to single-seaters, winning the 2025 F1 Academy title after finishing as runner-up in 2024.
• She is balancing her F1 duties with a full-season campaign in the European Le Mans Series, where she already secured a class podium in the 2025 opener.
• Pin is the first female driver to test an F1 car since Jessica Hawkins drove for Aston Martin in 2023, but Pin's test is framed as part of an ongoing development programme rather than a one-off.

What's next:

While an immediate F1 race seat remains a distant prospect, the test solidifies Pin's standing within Mercedes and opens the door for further opportunities.

• Her immediate sporting goal is a dual challenge: winning the ELMS championship and achieving a strong result at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which she will contest for the first time since 2022.
• Success in elite endurance racing could create its own opportunities and strengthen her case for a future in F1.
• Pin has stated her ultimate goal is still to reach Formula 1, and she views her current dual-role—excelling in endurance racing while developing with Mercedes F1—as the combined path to get there.