Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Doriane Pin became the first woman to drive a Mercedes Formula 1 car after the 22-year-old French development driver completed 76 laps and 200 kilometres in a Silverstone test aboard the 2021 title-winning W12.
The run was more than a brief headline appearance. Mercedes put Pin through a full Testing of Previous Cars outing on Silverstone’s 2.639-kilometre National Circuit, using the car raced by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in 2021, after extensive simulator preparation as part of her role with the team.
Pin, the 2025 F1 Academy champion, described the experience as “unreal” after her first Formula 1 running. She said she was grateful for the opportunity and for the team around her, adding: “Whilst being a female driver doesn't define me, it was great to show what we can do.”
She also made clear how big the jump was from the machinery she had driven before. “The W12 is obviously really different from the other cars I’ve been able to drive,” Pin said. “Everything is different, bigger and more powerful.” She said she was pleased to build confidence “lap after lap” and show what she was capable of.
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes trackside engineering director, said the day was a significant step rather than a symbolic gesture. “It marks another major step on what is proving to be a very exciting and promising career and also makes her the first ever female driver of a Mercedes F1 car,” he said.
Shovlin said Pin’s “preparation and professionalism” impressed the team and added that the transition into Formula 1 machinery is always substantial, whatever category a driver comes from. He said she “looked at home from the very first laps” and was able to drive the car “on the limit.”
The wider significance reaches beyond Mercedes. Pin is the first woman to test an F1 car since Jessica Hawkins drove Aston Martin’s AMR21 in 2023, and Mercedes framed the outing as a real extension of the pathway created around F1 Academy rather than a one-off showcase.
Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes driver development advisor, said the team was proud to show “the next generation of female drivers that driving an F1 car is achievable.” He added that Mercedes believes a woman will race in Formula 1 in the coming years and that the team would be “incredibly proud” if that happened with one of its own drivers.
That is why Pin’s Silverstone run matters in competitive terms as much as symbolic ones. She joined Mercedes’ driver development programme in 2024 after switching from endurance racing, finished runner-up in F1 Academy that year behind Abbi Pulling, then returned to win the 2025 title before taking on development-driver duties in 2026.
Her F1 work now sits alongside a broader endurance programme. Pin opened her full-time European Le Mans Series return with a class podium in Barcelona and is also part of Peugeot’s World Endurance Championship development programme. She is set to return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Duqueine in LMP2 alongside Julien Andlauer and Richard Verschoor, while continuing simulator, factory and trackside work with Mercedes as she pushes for the next step toward Formula 1.