Prema Racing and Mercedes junior driver Doriane Pin is currently leading the F1 Academy championship. Four rounds and three wins into the season, Pin joined the Feeder Series Podcast to discuss her journey in motorsport so far and answer some questions from listeners.

By Grayson Wallace

Having begun her racing journey at the age of nine in karts, Doriane Pin has driven everything from GT cars to prototypes to single-seaters.

After three strong years in sports car racing, Pin, now 21, debuted in a single-seater championship when she joined the last two rounds of Formula 4 South East Asia in late 2023 with her current team, Prema. Since then, she has raced in F4 UAE, the FRegional European Championship, and now F1 Academy. 

Pin recently sat down with Feeder Series podcast host Jim Kimberley and 2024 F1 Academy editor Calla Kra-Caskey to discuss the love for racing that has taken her to the top of the all-female F1 support championship – and the truancy that helped her get started.

The story begins when she was given the opportunity to test a Ferrari GT3 car at just 17 years old with Iron Lynx, who share a parent company with Prema. She jumped at the chance. 

“I knew one month before that I would drive in February with them, and since then, I stopped school. I didn’t say to my parents!” Pin said. “I looked at a lot of onboard videos from Mugello, Ferrari Challenge, GT3, whatever, and took all the information I could before I jumped in the car. When I jumped in the car, it felt like I already drove the car.

“I was in my element, obviously. I knew it was an important day. I was feeling so good, and obviously the test [was] amazing, and I met amazing people as well in the Iron Dames team. And from that, I had some discussions and I joined the team, and I’m still with them.”

Many parents would be disapproving if their child skipped school. Did hers ever find out? 

“Yeah, obviously they know!” she answered with a wide smile. “My exams were all good, so at the end, it’s all good.”

At the end of the year, she finished her Le Mans Cup season with Iron Lynx in fifth in the GT3 class with four podiums. She also entered the Ferrari Challenge and finished sixth in the Pro Category in both races of the season finale. She returned for the full Ferrari Challenge Europe season the year after with the Italian team and stood on the top step in nine of 14 races, winning the championship with one round to spare at only 18 years old.

In addition to clinching the title, she went on to win the Intercontinental GT Challenge’s 24 Hours of Spa that year in the Gold Cup class, driving for the Iron Dames squad alongside Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting.

In 2023, she raced in the World Endurance Championship’s LMP2 class with Prema. After becoming a Mercedes junior over the winter, she ventured into the new LMGT3 category with the Iron Dames team in 2024 before joining FR Europe with the same outfit. 

Currently in her second year of F1 Academy, Pin has accumulated six wins over two seasons. Having finished second last year, the Parisian will hope to go one better this year. She currently leads the championship by 20 points over Chloe Chambers as their battle resumes at Zandvoort next weekend – just before a new school year begins in France. 

“Sometimes you have to take the opportunities you have in front of you and maximise them,” she said on reflection. “Now, I don’t regret it at all.”

Hear more from Doriane Pin in the latest Feeder Series Podcast episode, released August 19.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency