Doriane Pin On The Future, And Paving The Way...
Doriane Pin has made her ambition crystal clear — she wants to be on the Formula 1 grid within five years, and she wants the next generation of female racers to believe they can join her. The 22-year-old French driver has emerged as one of the most prominent female talents in motorsport since winning the 2025 F1 Academy championship, earning a development driver role with Mercedes and taking another significant step towards her ultimate goal.
Asked where she sees herself five years from now during a recent Mercedes In Convo With Kids interview, Pin didn't hesitate. "In Formula 1." "That would be cool. It will open some doors to all the girls that want to be a Formula 1 driver."
For Pin, the ambition is about more than simply reaching the F1 grid.
Her journey through karting, junior single-seaters, GT racing and endurance competition has given her first-hand experience of trying to establish herself in a traditionally male-dominated environment — something she believes needs to change.
"Diversity, in general," Pin said when asked what she would change about the world.
"So in sports and outside of sports, I think we need more diversity. So more opportunities for everyone. Especially with my experience in a male-dominated sport like motorsport. So it would be good if we had a lot of women also in Formula 1."
Pin has already broken new ground at Mercedes.
In April 2026, she became the first woman to drive a Mercedes Formula 1 car, taking the wheel of the team's 2021 W12 at Silverstone. Her responsibilities now extend well beyond the F1 paddock. Alongside her Mercedes role, Pin is a development driver for Peugeot in the World Endurance Championship and Citroën in Formula E, while also competing for Duqueine in the LMP2 Pro-Am class of the European Le Mans Series.
But the road to F1 began long before the Mercedes opportunity. Pin started karting at nine and entered national competition at 12. She subsequently raced in the Renault Clio Cup, Le Mans Cup GT3 competition and Formula 4 championships in South East Asia and the UAE before making her F1 Academy debut. Now, having reached a position many young racers dream of, Pin is determined to make sure others don't abandon those dreams before they get the chance. Her message to young girls wanting to become racing drivers is simple. "You should believe in your dreams."
"It's what drives you every day to reach it. So if your dream is to go to the greatest races in the world, just go for it. Trust yourself, enjoy, dare to believe." That is also the advice Pin wishes she could give her younger self. "To trust yourself because when you're a bit younger, you don't think that it's possible and then you do it, and then you realise that it was easily reachable. So, you always have to think ahead."
Pin's F1 target may still be five years away, but her trajectory is already opening doors that were previously difficult for female racers to reach. And if she succeeds in turning her Mercedes development role into a place on the F1 grid, Pin believes the significance will extend far beyond her own career. It could give another generation of girls a reason to believe that the impossible might just be within reach.
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