Hodenius Named Mercedes-AMG Junior Driver

Mercedes-AMG has confirmed that Lin Hodenius will become an official junior driver for the Stuttgart manufacturer as part of a minor revision of the brand’s factory roster ahead of the 2026 season.

Hodenius made his GT3 debut with Mercedes-AMG this past season, driving for Iron Lynx in the FIA World Endurance Championship and competing in a number of other series, including the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS.

He was recently confirmed to be remaining a part of Iron Lynx’s WEC lineup for a second consecutive season.

The Dutchman joins Jayden Ojeda and Tom Kalender as junior drivers, which is part of the multi-tiered structure that has been used by the brand in recent years.

Ten drivers hold the role of Performance driver: Ralf Aron, Lucas Auer, Philip Ellis, Maro Engel, Jules Gounon, Maximilian Goetz, Mikael Grenier, Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz.

Thomas Jaeger will continue to serve as a test and development driver for the brand and contribute to the development of the new GT3 platform.

Daniel Morad leaves the factory driver lineup after a single season, while Mercedes-AMG has yet to clarify Adam Christodoulou’s current status with the brand.

A Mercedes-AMG spokesperson stated that the British racer, who does not appear on the list of names issued Friday, was classified as a non-exclusive Expert Driver this year, further information for which will come at a later date.

Of note, Matteo Cairoli, who spent the past year racing for Mercedes-AMG customer teams Winward Racing and Iron Lynx, has not been signed to a factory driver deal despite hinting earlier in the season that such a role had been under consideration.

Instead, the Italian was confirmed last month as the fourth and final member of DragonSpeed’s Corvette GTD lineup for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“With our driver line-up for 2026, we have set the course for another successful season in international GT racing,” said Stefan Wendl, Mercedes-AMG’s head of customer racing.

“The combination of experienced drivers and up-and-coming talents makes our line-up very strong and forms the basis for consistent top performances.

“I would like to express my special thanks to Daniel Morad for his great dedication and commitment this year.”