George Russell gets new team member as Mercedes make announcements | F1 | Sport
Mercedes are continuing to finalise their preparations for the 2026 Formula One season, with the Silver Arrows having confirmed three major announcements. Mercedes finished just under 400 points behind the 2025 Constructors Championship winners, McLaren, with star driver George Russell missing out on the top three by close to 100 points himself.
There’s renewed optimism that the incoming regulation changes could thrust Mercedes back in contention, and ahead of the 2026 campaign getting underway in the spring, the Brackley-based constructor have been busy with their announcements. A new team member has been announced, with Doriane Pin having graduated to the role of a development driver, having spent two seasons in the junior programme.
A statement on the Mercedes website read: “As Development Driver, Doriane will form part of the team’s roster of drivers who work across simulator development and additional activities at the factory and trackside.
“On track, Doriane will split her Development Driver duties with a soon-to-be-announced racing programme. The ‘Pocket Rocket’ will also attend several Grands Prix this season, acting as a support and sounding board to our 2026 F1 ACADEMY entrant, who will be announced in due course.”
During what proved to be a busy week at Mercedes HQ, the team also released their new livery for the 2026 season. It follows a similar pattern to recent Mercedes designs, with a mix of black and silver dominating the colour scheme, accompanied by the traditional green accents.
Whereas, the third and final announcement came in the way of a new partnership with digital financial services platform, Nu. Another statement read: “The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team today announce a new multi-year partnership establishing Nu as Official Team Partner, ahead of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship Season.
“The scale, international footprint and premium positioning of Formula One provide Nu with a powerful platform to build global brand awareness and deepen cultural relevance, creating new avenues to connect with a global, digital-first audience of over 827 million fans. With particularly strong reach across Latin America, the United States and other strategic markets, the partnership supports Nu’s long-term growth ambitions, while delivering immediate value in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, countries with deep legacy in the sport and passionate fan bases.”
Russell, along with fellow Mercedes driver, Kimi Antonelli, will try the new car for the first time during next week’s Barcelona shakedown, before the season gets underway in the first week of March.
