Will Buxton seriously excited about ‘huge signing’ who just joined the Mercedes academy

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Mercedes have confirmed that 20-year-old driver Doriane Pin has joined their junior programme for the 2024 season.

Toto Wolff’s team already have several exciting young talents among their ranks including Frederik Vesti and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

A press release from the team has confirmed that the Frenchwoman will become part of the Mercedes academy.

Doriane Pin will be racing for Mercedes in the F1 Academy series which is an all-female event.

It began last year and was won by Marta Garcia who earned a fully-funded seat in the Formula Regional European Championship this year as a result.

From 2024, every Formula 1 team will be entering a driver in F1 Academy and Mercedes have now announced that Pin will be their representative.

The 20-year-old will be part of the Prema Racing team in the series and speaking about the next step in her career, Pin said: “I am incredibly happy to join the Mercedes Junior Programme and to represent the team in F1 Academy this year with Prema Racing.

“A new chapter begins, and I am proud to make this next step in such a prestigious team and with the Iron Dames project.

“I am grateful for their trust and honoured to race for their colours.

“Moving into single-seaters was a clear objective for my career, and to be in this environment is a great approach. I am working very hard to reach the top level of this sport and I cannot wait to go racing.”

Pin joins Mercedes junior programme for 2024 season

Reacting to the news on social media, journalist Will Buxton simply said: “Huge signing. Pin is very very good.”

Pin began karting at the age of nine and stepped up to the Renault Clio Cup back in 2020.

She has since gone on to race in the GT3 category of the Le Mans Cup, and the FIA World Endurance Championship and was runner-up in Formula 4’s South East Asia Championship.

Pin won the Ferrari Challenge Europe in 2022, achieving victories in nine out of 14 races in a field that contained former F1 driver Adrian Sutil.

Mercedes appear to have made a great call bringing Pin into the fold in 2024 and she will have a great chance of winning F1 Academy based on the drivers who have currently been announced.

The series looks like a fantastic next step in her career and could end up funding her next stage in motor racing if she can defeat her rivals.