That said, Hockenheim proved to be quite the busy venue lately. As Motorsport.com Deutschland reports, Landgraf put a driver and a driver through their paces in the 2026-spec DTM machines, sharing the spotlight with Timo Glock in his Land-Porsche fielded by Bastian Buus.
The real center of attention was none other than F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin. She was a development driver for the Mercedes Formula 1 team, and this marked her second time inside a Mercedes-AMG GT3 within two weeks. Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff is reported to have personally pushed to secure these GT3 seat time opportunities for the 22-year-old French driver, widely regarded as one of the best racers in the world.
Pin took over the Adidas-liveried DTM machine previously driven by Lucas Auer. Meanwhile, the red-and-white sister car belonging to Tom Kalender was handed to Ricardo Escotto. The 21-year-old from Mexico City competed in Indy NXT and the FIA Formula 3 Championship this year. Weather conditions during the outing were tough, featuring cold and wet asphalt, and the Pirelli DHG slicks only came out in the afternoon.
Because of the tricky conditions and lingering damp patches, lap times remained strictly under wraps, with no livetiming at the circuit and Mercedes-AMG keeping quiet on the matter. Still, the running went off smoothly with barely any interruptions, allowing both drivers to complete their longrun programs.
Here is where it gets interesting. A Mercedes-AMG spokesperson insisted to the outlet that it was "not an explicit DTM test." Yet, trackside observers noticed that Pin spent plenty of time practicing full DTM-style performance pit stops in the blue machine. Unlike most GT3 championships that use a minimum pit stop time, the DTM relies on flat-out stops where every single hundredth of a second counts, making the precision entry and stationary drills a brutal challenge for any newcomer.
As it stands, Mercedes-AMG states that no further GT3 tests are planned for Pin at the moment, and the Landgraf team has yet to announce its full plans for the upcoming campaign, though a return to the DTM remains their goal. Whether this test points toward a future DTM seat will likely remain a mystery until Mercedes-AMG unveils its lineup for the 2027 season.
