Doriane Pin, From F1 Academy Champion to WEC With Peugeot

There are moments when junior motorsport delivers exactly on the promise it made. This week is one of them. Doriane Pin, 2025 F1 Academy champion, just added a third official programme to her 2026 calendar Peugeot WEC Development Driver while already serving as Mercedes F1 Development Driver and racing in the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine. The 22-year-old French driver is building, race by race, the most complete CV in women’s motorsport in generations.

This week’s news: Peugeot and the WEC

The confirmation came directly from Mercedes and Team Peugeot TotalEnergies this week with fewer than twelve days before the WEC season opens at Imola. Doriane Pin joins the Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar programme as a development driver, with simulator access, collaborative work with engineers throughout the season, and confirmed participation in the WEC Rookie Test in Bahrain in November.

This is not a decorative role. Pin doesn’t arrive at the WEC as a brand ambassador she arrives as the driver who already stood on the LMP2 podium at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2023, the first woman recognised as “Revelation of the Year” at the WEC end-of-season awards. She knows exactly what endurance racing demands and how to work inside a top-level factory team.

Her goal was stated plainly: “Joining Team Peugeot TotalEnergies is a great source of pride for me. My goal is to learn as much as possible, fully integrate into the team, and bring my commitment and perspective to help contribute to the success of the project. It’s a big step toward my goals, and I’m determined to make the most of it with the ambition of becoming an official driver.”

The most complete programme in women’s motorsport

To understand what Pin is building in 2026, you only need to list her current roles. Mercedes F1 Development Driver simulator work at Brackley and Brixworth, attendance at multiple Grands Prix, and active mentorship of Payton Westcott, the American driver occupying the Mercedes seat in F1 Academy 2026. Racing driver in the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine Team in LMP2. And now, Peugeot WEC Development Driver with access to the Bahrain Rookie Test.

Pin also mentioned in late January that one of her concrete targets for 2026 is completing her first proper test in a Formula 1 car with the Brackley team. Nothing is confirmed yet, but the direction is clear and everyone working with her at Mercedes endorses it.

What Pin represents for F1 Academy

Doriane Pin’s story is not just an individual story. It is the most concrete proof that F1 Academy launched in 2023 with the promise of creating a real ladder for female drivers is producing exactly what it promised. Three seasons. Three champions who moved to the next level all with real programmes, real teams, real money on the table.

F1 Academy Managing Director Susie Wolff has been clear: the fourth season launches with a bold new visual identity deep purple base, pixelated typography, new “accelerator” icon and with Pin’s story as the living argument that the project works. This is not marketing. It is result.

Montreal on May 22nd. Felbermayr leads, Granada surprises, Palmowski chases the title. And above all of them, Doriane Pin watches from Mercedes and Peugeot reminding every one of them that the ceiling doesn’t exist if you work hard enough to break through it.

Sources: Mercedes AMG F1 official, F1 Academy official, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies WEC official, Formula1.com, Motorsport.com, AutoHebdo, Sky Sports F1, Racers Behind the Helmet