DORIANE PIN Opens Up on Historic Mercedes F1 Test at Silverstone

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April 26, 2026

GRRL! SUMMARY:

  • DORIANE PIN became F1 Academy’s first champion to test an F1 car and first woman to pilot Mercedes machinery, earning promotion to development driver following her 2025 championship win.
  • The French driver described her Silverstone debut as “one of the best days” of her life, praising the collaborative engineering preparation that enabled immediate comfort in the car.
  • PIN emphasized F1’s unique characteristics exceed even LMP2 experience at Le Mans, noting braking performance and combined downforce create an incomparable sensation beyond 300kph speeds.
  • Despite extensive pre-test preparation with Mercedes engineers, PIN acknowledged multiple surprises adapting from Formula 4-equivalent F1 Academy and Ferrari 488 GTE machinery to full F1 specifications.

UPCOMING:

LINKS TO RACER'S PROFILE PAGES:

GRRL! summary based upon reporting by Lydia Mee originally appearing on www.motorsport.com