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The Women Who Opened the Door for Doriane

17 May 2026
8 Min Read

When Doriane Pin pulled out of the garage at Silverstone on 17 April, she made history. Seventy-six laps in the W12. The first woman to drive a Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One car.

This moment didn’t just happen overnight: Doriane’s journey was made possible in part because of the women who came before her.

Maria Teresa de Filippis - The First

It started with a bet. Two brothers challenged a 22-year-old from Naples to prove if she could drive fast. She won in her class on her first attempt and never looked back.

By 1958, Maria Teresa de Filippis had been racing for a decade. She personally bought a Maserati 250F and entered five World Championship rounds, finishing 10th at the Belgian Grand Prix - her best result. In Monza that year, she was running fifth with 14 laps to go when her engine failed. Had it held, she would have been the first woman to score points.

Lella Lombardi - The Record Holder

Lella Lombardi worked her way through Formula Monza, Italian F3, and Formula 5000 before joining March Engineering in 1975. At the Spanish Grand Prix, a catastrophic accident brought the race to an early halt. Lombardi finished sixth. With the shortened distance, points were halved, and she earned half a championship point.

It remains the only World Championship point ever scored by a woman in Formula One. More than 50 years on, the record still stands.

Giovanna Amati - The Last to Enter

In 1992, Giovanna Amati attempted to qualify for three Grands Prix with Brabham. She didn’t make the grid for any of them and she remains the most recent woman to enter a World Championship event.

Susie Wolff - The Return

Twenty-two years passed before a woman appeared in an official F1 session again. Susie Wolff ended that wait at the 2014 British Grand Prix, driving for Williams in Free Practice, the first woman in an official F1 session since 1992.

Since then, she has helped build the pathway that brought the next name on this list to Silverstone, as Managing Director of F1 Academy.

Doriane Pin - The Silver Arrow Test

“It was the best day of my life.”

The 2025 F1 Academy champion. Ferrari Challenge Europe winner. The first woman to win the WEC Revelation of the Year Award and now, the first woman to drive a Mercedes F1 car. A moment that will be remembered in motorsport history.

The journey of women in F1 continues and the goal of Mercedes-AMG F1 is to stay at the forefront of that story.

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