{"id":618124,"date":"2026-04-20T00:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T00:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618124\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T00:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T00:33:11","slug":"doriane-pin-becomes-first-f1-academy-champ-to-test-f1-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618124\/","title":{"rendered":"Doriane Pin Becomes First F1 Academy Champ to Test F1 Car"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"0\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">Reigning F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin has tested Formula 1 machinery for the first time, the first woman to do so in three years, and the first F1 Academy champion to do so.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"1\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">Pin, a member of Mercedes\u2019 driver development program, got behind the wheel of the 2021-spec title-winning W12 on Friday, running 76 laps of Silverstone\u2019s National Circuit. <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"2\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">\u201cDriving an F1 car for the first time was unreal,\u201d Pin, 22, said. \u201cI 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. <\/p>\n<p>Related Story<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"5\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">\u201cWhilst being a female driver doesn\u2019t define me, it was great to show what we can do. It was an extremely emotional day and I\u2019m also thankful I was able to share this experience with my family.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"6\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">\u201cThe W12 is obviously really different from the other cars I\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"7\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">Pin, last year\u2019s F1 Academy champion, is this year contesting the European Le Mans Series, alongside her role as a Mercedes development driver. <\/p>\n<p><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"formula 1 car being serviced in a garage\" title=\"formula 1 car being serviced in a garage\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1273\" height=\"716\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f2312fb0-4433-4732-9443-2bfad8557325.jpg\" class=\"css-0 e1g79fud0\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mercedes F1<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"9\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">\u201cIt\u2019s been great to have Doriane complete a day of testing with the W12,\u201d said Mercedes\u2019 Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin. \u201cIt marks another major step on 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.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"10\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">\u201cHer preparation and professionalism has 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-dynamic-svg=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/www.autoweek.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/autoweek\/static\/images\/logos\/lettermark.de67f45.svg?primary=%2523000\" loading=\"lazy\" data-testid=\"dynamic-svg-base\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" alt=\"Lettermark\" class=\"css-7mevzh ev8dhu50\"\/><\/p>\n<p>U.K.-based Phillip Horton started covering Grands Prix while still at university and swiftly deemed that writing about Formula 1 and the behind-the-scenes machinations was much more engaging than reading centuries-old novels. Degree gained, he went on to cover the sport full-time from 2014 and is as intrigued and excited by the destinations Formula 1 visits during its lengthy annual world tour as the racing itself. Phillip joined Autoweek in 2021 and while he has just about learned to spell in American English he has yet to find anywhere in America that makes a proper cup of tea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reigning F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin has tested Formula 1 machinery for the first time, the first woman&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,428,299719,430,817,813,816,2387,299718,85,233947],"class_list":{"0":"post-618124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-content-type-news","11":"tag-contentid-93bd72c7-37b4-4a77-a123-15da288f29e7","12":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","13":"tag-f1","14":"tag-formula-1","15":"tag-formula1","16":"tag-locale-us","17":"tag-shorttitle-pin-becomes-first-f1-academy-champ-to-test-f1-car","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-subsection-formula-one"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}