(Motorsport-Total.com) – Mercedes announced its junior squad for the year 2026 this week. With the only eleven-year-old Devin Titz, a German driver is also on board this time. He is currently competing in karting and is described by Mercedes as a “promising talent.”
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“It’s really a dream come true,” says Titz himself about his admission to the Mercedes junior program, explaining: “Mercedes stands for excellence and success, and I am incredibly proud to be part of this team.”
Titz is thus following in the footsteps of, among others, the two current Mercedes Formula 1 drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Both also come from the Mercedes junior program and were brought into the premier class by the Silver Arrows.
Antonelli has also been supported by Mercedes since his karting days. “Being part of the junior program is an incredible opportunity that doesn’t come along every day,” the Italian explains, emphasizing: “The junior program has supported me enormously on and off the track.”
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“I had everything I needed to develop and improve. It was an incredible journey, and the juniors from this year’s intake will surely enjoy it as much as I did,” says Antonelli, who is entering his second Formula 1 season this year.
In addition to Titz, eight other drivers are in the Mercedes junior squad for 2026. Specifically, these are:
Rashid Al Dhaheri (17, United Arab Emirates)
Ethan Jeff-Hall (17, Great Britain)
Andy Consani (16, France)
Luna Fluxa (15, Spain)
Kenzo Craigie (15, Great Britain)
James Anagnostiadis (15, Australia)
Many Nuvolini (12, France)
Niccolo Perico (11, Italy)
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According to Mercedes, the squad includes “drivers from various categories, from karting to the Formula Regional European Championship (FREC).” In Formula 2 and Formula 3, the team is not supporting any drivers this year.
Pourchaire new Mercedes development driver
At the same time, Mercedes announced the signing of a former Sauber junior this week. Theo Pourchaire, the 2023 Formula 2 champion, is now a development driver for the Silver Arrows.
The now 22-year-old Frenchman won the title in the German Formula 4 in 2019 and became runner-up behind Oscar Piastri a year later in his Formula 3 debut season. The current McLaren driver scored only three points more than Pourchaire at the time.
2021 followed the move up to Formula 2, where he took two race wins and finished fifth overall in his first season. A year later, he was runner-up behind Felipe Drugovich before finally winning the title in 2023.
However, the then Sauber junior did not find a cockpit in Formula 1, which is why he competed in races in Super Formula, the IndyCar series, or the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in the following years.
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