Mercedes has completed a “milestone moment” with development driver Doriane Pin, carrying out a test at Silverstone.

The French driver was given a chance to climb behind the wheel of the Mercedes W12 for an outing as part of her development driver duties.

Doriane Pin completes Mercedes Silverstone test

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Following on from Mercedes carrying out a filming day with the W17 at Silverstone on Friday, the Brackley-based squad has made the most of the extended gap between the Japanese and Miami Grands Prix to carry out a TPC [Testing of previous car] outing with Doriane Pin.

The French driver, who currently competes in the LMP2 Pro-Am class of the European Le Mans Series with the Duqueine team, is a development driver for the Mercedes squad as of January this year, having been part of the team’s academy in 2024 and ’25.

Competing with Prema Racing as the Mercedes entrant in F1 Academy in 2025, Pin won the title with four victories to her name, and has now become the first female driver to ever climb behind the wheel of a Mercedes F1 car.

Pin was given a chance to drive the W12, as driven by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in 2021, in the final year of the regulation set prior to the ground-effect era.

“Today is a very special day,” she posted on social media on Saturday morning, as she posted pictures in the Mercedes race suit and helmet from her run on Friday.

“I will drive for the first time, a Formula 1 car at Silverstone. Very looking forward to it.

“It’s going to be a big day, and something that I’ve dreamed of for so long.

“So I will enjoy every second and take this chance to build myself and continue to grow and enjoy driving a Formula 1 car, and I will keep you posted on how it is and how special this day is. ”

Both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were on hand to witness the moment on Friday, which saw Pin become the first female driver of an F1 car since Jessica Hawkins drove the Aston Martin AMR21 at the Hungaroring in 2023.

Pin completed 76 laps of Silverstone’s national circuit layout for a total of 200 km of running on the day.

“Driving an F1 car for the first time today was unreal,” she said afterwards.

“I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity and to be surrounded by this incredible team. It was a unique opportunity, and I made sure to enjoy my day to the fullest, along with doing the best job I could.

“Whilst being a female driver doesn’t define me, it was great to show what we can do. It was an extremely emotional day, and I’m also thankful I was able to share this experience with my family.

“The W12 is obviously really different from the other cars I’ve been able to drive. Everything is different, bigger, and more powerful. I am glad I was able to build confidence lap after lap and show what I was capable of.”

Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said of Pin’s day, “It’s been great to have Doriane complete a day of testing with the W12 today. It marks another major step in 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.

“Her preparation and professionalism have impressed the whole team, and she should be really proud of what she has achieved.

“Whatever series you come from, it is always a massive step when getting into an F1 car, but she looked at home from the very first laps and was able to enjoy driving the car on the limit.”

Colombian driver Tatiana Calderon tested for Sauber in 2018, while the most recent female driver to take part in an official Grand Prix weekend was Susie Wolff, who was a test driver for Williams.

She drove in first practice sessions at Silverstone and Hockenheim in 2014, as well as in Barcelona and Silverstone in 2015.

Wolff, managing director of F1 Academy, is the wife of Mercedes’ team boss and CEO Toto, and, in a video posted to social media by Mercedes, Pin was given a special greeting from Wolff before climbing into the car.

“Doriane, our F1 Academy champion, your first Formula 1 test. What a special day,” Wolff said.

“It won’t be until you’re strapped in and you start up that engine that it will all become real.

“You’ll get out onto the track at Silverstone, you won’t believe how fast that car can go in a straight line; the Maggots, Becketts section, what a brilliant corner section to drive in an F1 car.

“I know, like I was, you’ll be super keen to post a quick lap time to show everybody what you’re capable of, but build up to it, trust and listen to the engineers around you.

“They’ll be guiding you on the day, and enjoy every minute. We’ll be rooting for you from a distance. We’re proud of you. Good luck!”

HGBNFDBVG

The moment @DorianePin has always dreamed of ❤️

As she becomes the first female to ever drive a Mercedes F1 car. pic.twitter.com/81SAlHxIUW

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 18, 2026

With Pin winning the F1 Academy title, she has been replaced as Mercedes’ representative by American driver Payton Westcott, who scored a podium in the second race in Shanghai; she currently occupies fourth in the standings.

While Pin may be the first female driver to officially drive a Mercedes F1 car, the team’s driver development advisor, Gwen Lagrue, believes it’s only a matter of time before a female gets a chance to join the grid for the first time since Giovanni Amati’s efforts in 1992.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com in 2025, Lagrue suggested that it may even be Mercedes that uncovers the next female driver. In the company’s history, Mercedes’ very first test driver was Bertha Benz, the wife of automobile inventor Carl, with whom she became business partners by investing in his burgeoning automobile efforts.

Her trailblazing drive from Mannheim to Pforzheim in 1888 proved to Benz that his Patent-Motorwagen Model III had practical function and usability, with the Benz company going on to merge with Gottlieb Daimler’s similarly eponymous automobile company to form Daimler-Benz, the company known today as the Mercedes-Benz Group.

In 1962, Mercedes bought out the contract of Swedish rally driver Ewy Rosqvist, and she immediately won the Argentine Turismo Standard Grand Prix in a Mercedes 220SE alongside co-driver Ursula Wirth, while also taking victories in class in the Rallye Monte Carlo and at the Nurburgring, whilst also enjoying successes in the Acropolis and Spa-Liege rallies.

The only female driver to have ever won a DTM race was also a Mercedes driver – Ellen Lohr, coming through to win at Hockenheim in 1992 behind the wheel of a Mercedes 190E Evo2.

Alongside Pin’s links to Mercedes, also in the academy is 15-year-old Spaniard Luna Fluxa, who became the first female driver to win an FIA karting championship since 1966 with her win in the Champions of the Future Academy series in OK-Senior in 2024.

“I do believe we will be the team that brings the next female driver into F1 in the future,” was Lagrue’s answer to PlanetF1.com when asked about the prospect of a female driver arriving in F1 in the near future, while Pin was still in F1 Academy.

“I think the way to prepare a girl to reach the top level is to use all the tools we have. Obviously, F1 Academy helps us massively because it gives huge exposure to female [drivers] in motorsports, and it helps us to maximise our efforts to make it happen – not only us, but everyone.

“Then we also decided to be present and to be proactive in karting because that’s where we need to develop the number of girls joining motorsport as well, because the reality to us today is we are lacking girls in karting, so we need more girls.

“If we have more girls starting in karting, we also maximise our chance to bring one to the top level.”

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