A special Friday the 17th
Friday the 17th may be considered an unlucky date for some, but certainly – after what happened yesterday – not for Doriane Pin. The talented 22-year-old French driver, raised in the Mercedes youth program and last year’s winner of the F1 Academy championship, was able to fulfill a lifelong dream precisely on Friday the 17th: to drive, at Silverstone, a Formula 1 car.
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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
Mercedes in fact organized a private test for Pin in which the young Frenchwoman took the wheel of the W12 used in the 2021 season by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. A special car, the last of that generation of cars and above all the last – so far – to have brought Mercedes to the top of the world in the Constructors’ Championship. It is obviously also the car with which Lewis Hamilton came close to winning his eighth Drivers’ title, lost only in the infamous last lap of the Abu Dhabi GP.
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First woman ever in Mercedes
“Today is a truly special day – Pin commented, in a video released today on social media by the Mercedes team and recorded just before the start of the test – I will drive a Formula 1 car for the first time at Silverstone and I can’t wait. It will be an important day, something I have dreamed of for a very long time. I will enjoy every second and seize this opportunity to grow and continue to improve, enjoying driving a Formula 1 car. I will keep you updated on how it goes and how special this day is”. The ‘behind the scenes’ of this day was also filmed by the French TV Canal+, which will broadcast a special dedicated to it during the Miami GP weekend.
This moment 🥹 pic.twitter.com/rsrSIPQRlW
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 18, 2026
Pin also received congratulations, via video message, from the head of the F1 Academy championship, Susie Wolff. The partner of the Mercedes team principal knows well the feelings experienced by Pin, since she herself has previously tested driving F1 cars, also taking part in four FP1 sessions during some GP weekends between 2014 and 2015 with Williams. With yesterday’s test, Pin also became the first woman ever to have driven a Mercedes F1 car.
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