Joshua Dürksen completes first F1 test with Mercedes at Portimão

He becomes the first Paraguayan to drive a modern F1 car.

Wire Report IntelligenceUpdated 1h1 min read

A dream realised in Portimão 🩵 Joshua Dürksen has made history as the first Paraguayan to drive a modern Formula One ca Via @MercedesAMGF1 on X

What happened: Joshua Dürksen drove the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS W16 during a testing session in Portimão. The run marks his debut behind the wheel of Formula One machinery for Mercedes after the team's recent promotional rollout at Sepang.

Why it matters: The session makes Paraguay the latest nation represented in modern Formula One testing. Private mileage in the W16 chassis gives Mercedes a baseline evaluation of Dürksen's pace and technical feedback outside of a race weekend.

What to watch: Mercedes has not announced further testing dates for Dürksen as the 2026 Formula One season continues.

Sources

@MercedesAMGF1 2026-10-17T00:22:13.050259+00:00

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