For decades, motorsport fans have eagerly awaited the return of a female driver to the Formula 1 grid. The history books show how rare this is: no woman has started an F1 Grand Prix since Lella Lombardi in 1976, and none have ever completed a full F1 season.
Enter Mercedes Development Driver Doriane Pin. A trailblazing talent in modern sports car and single-seater racing, Pin is rapidly tearing down barriers and assembling one of the most impressive resumes in recent motorsport history.
From Karting to touring cars
Born in France in 2004, Doriane Pin discovered her life’s passion early. She fell in love with karting at just four years old and began competing by age nine. Over the next few years, she established herself as a formidable talent, finishing tenth and fifth in the national junior class before commanding the French female championship category in 2019.
A year later, she successfully transitioned to cars in the Renault Clio Cup. Despite only competing in the first three events of the campaign, she turned heads by securing a best overall finish of ninth and taking second place in the junior category.
The Iron Dames and Endurance domination
In 2021, Doriane Pin earned a career-defining test with the Iron Dames, the groundbreaking project founded to support women in motorsport, and quickly secured a full-time seat. What followed was a masterclass in endurance racing.
Pin went on a relentless tear, capturing the Ferrari Challenge Europe title, winning the prestigious 24 Hours of Spa, and helping snatch a historic maiden victory for the Iron Dames in the European Le Mans Series season finale.
Stepping up to the World Endurance Championship in the highly competitive LMP2 class, Pin looked instantly comfortable. She scored a podium finish at the 1000 Miles of Sebring and wrapped up the season by becoming the first woman ever to win the coveted WEC ‘Revelation of the Year’ award.
The leap to single-seaters
In late 2023, Doriane Pin pivoted toward the traditional F1 ladder, making her single-seater debut in the F4 South East Asia Championship with Prema Racing. In just two rounds, she pocketed three podiums and a victory at Sepang, finishing runner-up in the standings. She carried that momentum into 2024, tackling the ultra-competitive F4 UAE Championship, where she claimed another pole position and a race victory.
However, her primary spotlight in 2024 belonged to the all-female F1 Academy grid. Driving for PREMA under the mentorship of the Mercedes-AMG F1 team, she became an instant front-runner, racking up three wins and five podiums to finish her rookie season as the championship runner-up.
Pin returned to F1 Academy in 2025 with singular focus. She dominated her second season, securing four wins and four additional podiums to officially clinch the F1 Academy Championship title at the season finale in Las Vegas.
2026: The Mercedes F1 milestone and beyond
Now in 2026, Doriane Pin’s trajectory is steeper than ever. Serving as an official development driver for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, she achieved a monumental milestone in April 2026 at Silverstone. Pin became the first woman to drive a modern Mercedes Formula 1 car, completing a rigorous 76-lap test behind the wheel of the championship-winning W12.
Pin’s versatility continues to draw attention across the paddock. In May 2026, Citroën Racing announced her as their Formula E Gen4 development driver for the upcoming 2026–27 season, integrating her into the broader Stellantis young driver programme.
With an F1 Academy title in her pocket, a WEC masterclass on her resume, and official backing from the highest echelons of single-seater racing, Doriane Pin is no longer just a driver to watch for the future, she is the future.
An icon of hope
Besides her impressive record on the track, Doriane Pin represents more than just a racing driver, she is a beacon of hope for female fans and aspiring female drivers who hope to one day reach the ranks of Formula 1. She has vocalised her opinions on the female psyche and how change needs to happen in an interview with VIBES:
“The education until now has always been the girl who plays with Barbies and the boy who plays with racing cars, we have to stop putting that idea in our heads since centuries.”
Regarding her Silverstone test and her Formula 1 aspirations, here’s what she had to say:
“I have always wanted to one day reach Formula One. It’s the category I’ve dreamt of since I was little. [It] remains a category that is super complicated to break into because it houses the best 22 racing drivers in the world. So, I am very grateful for this chance, and I hope to be the first woman to have a complete season in Formula 1, and to open the doors for more equality in motorsports, as there is no gender in sports, whether it’s in the companies or the sport itself.”
As Doriance continues her relentless rise among the ranks of Formula 1, one can only hope it will be a matter of time until we see her complete a season in the sport as the first female driver to do so; an equal and a rival all the same.
