A lot has changed in the space of a year for Doriane Pin. At the start of 2025, the French racer was embarking on her second and final campaign in F1 ACADEMY, one that would ultimately see her win the title as well as cementing an impressive record of finishing on the podium at every round she participated in.
Now, in 2026, Pin is taking the next steps in her career – with one key milestone being her new position as a Development Driver with the Mercedes F1 team, a role that she will dovetail with a racing programme in the European Le Mans Series.
It is clearly going to be a busy year ahead for the 22-year-old, meaning there is plenty to discuss as F1.com sits down with Pin during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend – with topics on the agenda including how she is finding her new role so far, what it has been like to work alongside the team’s drivers and the plans for her to get behind the wheel of an F1 car…
‘Fully taking’ the opportunity of new Mercedes role
“I think it’s one of the first times I’ve come to the racetrack and I’m not driving, so it’s a kind of different feeling,” Pin admits as we chat on a sunny day in the Shanghai International Circuit paddock, with the weekend marking the first time that she will be observing an F1 ACADEMY race rather than driving in it since her title triumph.
This is also her maiden event as a Mercedes Development Driver, a role that will see her attend several Grands Prix as well as carrying out simulator work and various activities both at the factory and trackside for the squad. Additionally, Pin will act as a mentor to Mercedes’ new F1 ACADEMY driver Payton Westcott.
Asked how it feels to be at the track for the first time since her new position was announced, Pin explains: “I’m very happy to join the team for the second race of the F1 season, and also working with Payton in F1 ACADEMY. I’m very happy with the role I have this year.
“It’s a very interesting role that for me is important for my career and to develop as a person and also as a driver, and Mercedes can bring me so much knowledge in my racing career so I’m very honoured to have this opportunity.
“And then the work with Payton is very interesting because she’s still very young – she’s [17] and she still has a lot to learn, but she learns quick and it’s so nice to share my experience of the past two years, to see her improving and continuing to take some steps forward in her young racing career.”
With her role being a multi-faceted one, Pin admits that she is keen to make the most of every chance to continue her learning – something that she has already felt the effects of.
“Every opportunity is obviously very beneficial for my career, but mainly the fact that with such an iconic and experienced team, for me – on site but also at the factory – I’m learning,” she concedes. “I’m learning a lot and it’s so interesting.
“I feel like I’m going home [at the end of the day] and I have grown in one day. Not a lot of drivers have this opportunity, so I’m fully taking it.
“As I said, it’s going to help me for my career as a driver also because my main job is to be fast on track and, if you understand more how the car works and how everything is working with the team etc, you can really put the work in a good place and perform on the track as well.”
Working with Russell, Antonelli and Wolff
Having long been a part of the Mercedes family – after representing the squad across her two seasons in F1 ACADEMY – Pin can now build further on the already good working relationships she holds with members of the F1 team, including drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
“Obviously I was quite close with [the drivers], especially last year, and in the last two years in F1 ACADEMY we were sharing seven weekends together, so we were sharing some feedback about the track evolution, about a lot of technical stuff,” says Pin.
“Also George gave me some very good advice to help me to perform and to perform on the track that I didn’t know before, so it’s a very good chance for me also to have them by my side and now we are working a bit more together on the team. We are not in the same day together, but we are working as a team and it’s interesting to work with them.”
As well as receiving support from the drivers, Pin has earned praise from Team Principal Toto Wolff, who has hailed the reigning F1 ACADEMY champion as a “fierce young lady that can drive” and whose personality “fits into Mercedes”.
When asked what it has been like to work with Wolff – and if she agrees with his take on how she is a good fit for the Silver Arrows – Pin smiles: “I mean, if Toto says it, it means that it’s good – it’s positive!
“He’s always there for everyone but also for me since I joined the team, so I’m very glad that we have the best boss and he’s very supportive of whatever things that we do in our career. I’m really glad to have won a first championship together, and I hope we will win many more.”
Pin also acknowledges that it is an exciting time to be working even more closely with the Mercedes F1 outfit, given that the team have embarked on a strong start to the season that has seen them claim a hat-trick of wins across the opening three rounds.
“It’s very positive for Mercedes obviously, and being part of this is amazing, yes,” she agrees. “You see the constant evolution and it’s still very new, but they started on the right foot, very competitive, and they know what they do so it’s great to be part of it and to work even closer [together] this year to bring some positive changes ahead of the full season.”
Supporting Westcott and showing women and girls there is ‘no limit’
As we speak on Saturday afternoon in Shanghai, Mercedes’ new F1 ACADEMY recruit, Payton Westcott, is preparing for her debut race, having claimed fourth place in a solid maiden Qualifying performance one day earlier.
Pin is pleased to be able to work alongside the American teenager, with the French driver feeling that she has a lot to offer in terms of supporting the next generation.
“I’m very happy about this role with Payton, because I really feel myself that I can give some advice, some positive advice, so the young drivers can learn from it,” says Pin. “She’s very curious, and she’s very committed and focused on her work and on her progression, so it’s very good to work with her.
“She did pretty well yesterday in Quali, so let’s see how it goes in the races but for sure it will be an interesting season with her for her rookie year.”
The rest of the weekend would indeed go well for Westcott, who claimed sixth place in the Reverse Grid Race before scoring her first podium with P3 in the Feature Race – where the trophy was incidentally presented to her by Pin.
Just a few days prior to this, Pin had shared a reflective social media post to mark International Women’s Day, featuring a photo of herself as a child holding a trophy alongside a caption in which she commented that: “Today, more of us are dreaming bigger than ever before.”
It is a topic that she speaks passionately about when quizzed on how it feels to be able to provide an example – not only to fellow F1 ACADEMY drivers but to other women and girls in general – as she embarks on her next steps as a Mercedes Development Driver.
“I think it’s very important to be the one showing the path, because when I started in motorsport I was almost the only one on the racetrack, and at a young age you don’t realise what boundaries [are] and what doors you open,” Pin explains.
“But in the end, when you’re reflecting on your career so far, you have helped a lot of women getting into the sport and also [contributed to] a mindset that has changed, not only in the sport but I think in general in life, and if I can give some advice I will always do so.
“That’s why those days [like International Women’s Day] are very important, to bring back memories but also to tell the stories and to say that there is no limit and nothing that can stop you, because it’s important to do what you love in life and, no matter the gender, you have your place wherever you go.”
Aiming for another title
It certainly seems that nothing can stop Pin who, alongside her duties for Mercedes, is making her return to endurance racing – a format in which she has previously experienced success – for the Duqueine Team in the European Le Mans Series.
More recently it was also confirmed that Pin is taking on an Official Development Driver role at Team Peugeot TotalEnergies, where she will contribute to the development of the Peugeot 9X8 hypercar as well as taking part in the Bahrain Rookie Test in November.
In terms of how it feels to be going back into endurance after racing in single-seaters more recently, Pin responds: “Obviously it’s a very different way to race, but it’s very competitive. There are a lot of factory drivers and constructors as well, and it’s going to be an interesting season.
“There are a lot of good drivers already on the entry list. I’m very happy to go back to it and to drive a very fast car – it’s quite a good car, the LMP2.
“Starting a new journey with a new team, there are new people also in the team so there are a lot of things to put in place, and it’s interesting that each driver can bring the experience to develop the team and to perform.
“We did the test [over] the last two days and it was very positive, so I’m looking forward to starting the season and to see what we can do. But definitely the mindset – and the target – is to win the title at the end of the year.”
The campaign looks to have since gotten off to a good start for the Duqueine Team, with Pin and team mates Giorgio Roda and Richard Verschoor securing pole position in the LMP2 PRO/AM class for Round 1, the 4 Hours of Barcelona, before ending the race on the podium in third.
Pin is confident that her role with Mercedes will complement her racing programme well, adding: “Every time I learn something from Mercedes, I bring my experience to the team also – to improve them and to be better every time we go on track – but also to myself as a driver.
“I keep on improving. I’m still in my early career and, every time I jump in the car, I feel more comfortable and I know that I can make some steps forwards.”
Next steps and a potential F1 test
So what do those next steps look like for Pin? With her role seeing her join a roster of drivers who work across simulator development for Mercedes, the French racer has already had a taste of this, something that she is looking forward to building on further – with it potentially leading to the chance to drive an F1 car for real.
“I’ve done one session already, going through a lot of work, obviously very technical, and [I’ve been getting to know] the team and how they work, how they work to improve the car every time they are going on track,” she explains.
“I’m going to do some more this year, and it’s going to be interesting to see the evolution of the new car and me obviously driving a Formula 1 car in this year.”
Pushed on whether the opportunity to get behind the wheel would be part of a Testing of Previous Cars programme – and if there could even be the prospect of a Free Practice 1 outing on the cards – Pin adds: “First of all it will be a private test.
“For sure the second step [being] FP1 would be good, but that’s not yet in place. We will see when the days come when I will test the real car and then we see [going] forward, and I hope I will have more opportunities in the future to drive the car and be competitive to then reach my goal in the next few years.”
That goal is of course unchanged from the one she has long held – to reach Formula 1 – and, looking at her more immediate targets for the year ahead, Pin believes that the combination of her Mercedes position with her racing programme will be beneficial in moving closer towards that dream.
“The goal of my racing season is to win the championship but also to be good in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which we will also be racing in, so if we can do good out there it will be a positive result that can bring other opportunities afterwards,” she asserts.
“But definitely combining both roles and continuing the development with the F1 team, and me continuing my racing and trying to push and do my best every time, hopefully the two combined things will be bringing new opportunities and [working] towards my goal.
“I think we all have the same goal and we are all working towards this one, so let’s keep working.”
