Interview
‘We are always at the top every time‘ – Standings leader Pin on how she’s making consistency the driving force behind her 2025 title charge
Every point moves Doriane Pin one step closer to being crowned the 2025 F1 ACADEMY Champion and the Mercedes driver is determined to do everything she can to make that dream a reality.
One of the most recognisable young female talents, Pin had already proved she was a powerhouse behind the wheel in sportscars and endurance racing. Becoming the first woman to win the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Revelation of the Year Award in 2023, she then dipped into the world of single-seaters.
Scoring a win and three further podiums, Pin finished second in the Formula 4 South-East Asia Championship before she burst on to the F1 ACADEMY scene with a double pole and win on debut in Jeddah last year. Backed by Mercedes, she kept the title fight alive until the penultimate round, finishing 121 points behind Champion Abbi Pulling.
Returning for a sophomore campaign this year, Pin meant business. Standing tall with a 20-point lead over Chloe Chambers in the Drivers’ Standings, she enters Round 5 in Zandvoort with a target on her back. A winner there last year, she knows what it takes to win around the Dutch circuit, but the timesheets during in-season testing didn’t quite tell the same story of competitiveness. Although she was absent from the top five across the two days, Pin remains unfazed and stressed the importance of testing in setting her up for success.
“It’s good to have two days of testing before the month,” she notes. “We tested some items and we’re going to look at everything in the workshop, but it’s positive.
“Obviously, doing some laps in Zandvoort is needed when it’s such a technical track. I’m quite happy about how it went, even if on paper it’s not showing that. I’m quite confident that we can still be competitive like last year here and have a good weekend.”
Pin adds: “We’ll have two Free Practices, so this is good, it’s not one. For sure, we have to be right in the action and good in the game straight away to not lose time. We will make sure we are 100% ready to fight for the top.”
However, the French racer hasn’t had it all her own way this season. Outqualified by Maya Weug in Shanghai, she got the better of the Ferrari driver at the start of Race 2 — comfortably driving off to the win and a five-point lead in the Drivers’ Standings.
Her return to Jeddah failed to match last year’s heights, with a podium and P4 finish. Relinquishing the Standings lead to Weug, Pin clawed the gap back down from seven to a single-point with a victory in Miami Race 1.
Montreal brought further success as the 21-year-old placed herself perfectly to capitalise on a tangle between Campos Racing teammates Chloe Chambers and Alisha Palmowski to deliver her third victory of the year, the only repeat winner so far.
With an unshakeable belief in herself and fortitude, Pin has seen what it takes to put a title charge together. Citing consistency as her biggest strength, she recognises that she can’t afford to let any point scoring opportunity pass her by.
“We are always at the top every time, fighting for victories and the podiums all the time,” Pin notes. “Some that I’m fighting with are a bit more inconsistent. We saw it last year, consistency is a really strong point to have when you want to have a title. That’s a strong and positive part on my side.
“The speed overall (means) we are quite competitive everywhere. Weakness is the reverse grids sometimes. Dealing with everyone around you and trying to be aggressive in coming to the front to try and score maximum points.
“But sometimes it’s a bit messy and a lot of things happen, so you have to be very smart. We are working on it and then I’m sure it will progress during the second part of the season. Zandvoort is not an easy track to overtake on, so Qualifying is key. The reverse grid will be fun, so we will work on it to be 100% ready.”