Rachel Robertson: Racing Against the Odds and the F1 Academy | Extraordinary Life Stories

1 Aug 2026 · 32 min · 14 chapters

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In short

Rachel Robertson, 18, discusses her path into F1 Academy (racing with Puma for 2026), how she copes with pressure and limited testing/funding, and what it means for women’s representation in motorsport. She also explains her mental preparation methods (visualization, “making everything known,” flow state) and her ambition to graduate from F1 Academy into mixed racing at the highest level.

Guest backgrounds

Rachel Robertson is a British racing driver who started with car/scooter/bike games, began go-karting competitively, and later moved into Formula 4 and F1 Academy. She won a scholarship in early 2025 and is studying motorsport engineering (Edinburgh to near Bath).

Key claims

Motorsport has a major barrier to entry; women face a drastically smaller talent pool (about 99:1 male-to-female). She says women can perform at the highest levels and points to women testing F1 cars. She emphasizes that confidence comes from preparation and avoiding overthinking.

Notable examples

Winning a scholarship that enabled a near full-paid season; an Eric Lill Foundation connection; Gabby Logan’s Legends Global grant (£15,000) funding two F4 test days; a single test day leading to an F1 Academy team simulator opportunity; finishing fourth at Silverstone (grid of 18) despite limited track time.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Discovering a Passion for Racing

1:12 to 1:55

Rachel shares her unconventional journey into racing and early interests.

“So how did you get into, what got you interested in being a racing driver?”

The Competitive Spirit

1:55 to 3:26

Discussion on Rachel's competitive nature and experiences with sports.

“I don't have a family history in motorsport, so it's really, I mean, I'm not too sure where it came from.”

Finding Confidence in Racing

3:26 to 5:00

Rachel discusses building confidence and her love for racing while wearing a helmet.

Challenges in Motorsport Entry

5:00 to 6:24

Rachel talks about the barriers to entry and her family's sacrifices.

Support from Family and Sponsors

8:59 to 9:38

Rachel discusses the importance of her family and sponsors in her racing career.

“And you've got a family team around you and an extended sponsorship and so on.”

Turning Points and Opportunities

9:38 to 11:32

Rachel shares about mentorship and the opportunities that helped her progress.

Growth and Overcoming Fear

11:32 to 12:15

Discussion on Rachel's growth and overcoming nervousness in public speaking.

“And I think just listening to you now, to use that word again, maturity, the version of you three years ago, sitting here now, so you would be nervous, you would be kind of struggling.”

Passion and Performance

12:15 to 14:00

Exploring how passion influences performance in sports.

“It's great that you can share that but also acknowledge it and have that sort of almost the flip of looking back on that.”

Mental Preparation in Racing

14:00 to 20:00

Learn how mental preparation and visualization can enhance performance in racing.

Mental Preparation in Racing

20:01 to 20:27

Learn how mental preparation and visualization can enhance performance in racing.

“Learn more at drinkag1.com A burst pipe.”
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Breaking Barriers in Women's Motorsport

20:37 to 28:00

Explore the challenges and ambitions of women in motorsport, focusing on equal opportunities and the future of female racers.

“Because as far as women's motorsport, it's the pinnacle, you know?”

The Physical Demands of Motorsports

28:00 to 33:11

Explore the unique physical challenges faced by female drivers in motorsport.

“And then you'll do anything else that comes into that space.”

The Physical Demands of Motorsports

33:15 to 33:39

Explore the unique physical challenges faced by female drivers in motorsport.

“You can count on Credit Karma to keep up with your financial needs as they evolve, helping you monitor your progress and giving you personalized recommendations so you can make strides towards your goals.”

Building a Career in Racing and Beyond

33:39 to 36:03

Understand how racing impacts Rachel's growth as a businesswoman and communicator.

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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

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1:12welcome thank you looking forward to this i'm super looking forward to this tell me who is rachel robertson i am well rachel robertson as you say and i race in the formula one academy this year and next year and i race with puma for the 2026 season and how old are you i'm 18 years old. Mind-blowing. And I think I've got to say this early, extraordinary life stories, probably by far the youngest person to come on because normally there's perspective, there's all sorts of things that have happened that then come into a journey to reflect, whereas you're living this real time, all the challenges, all the experiences, but there's so much relevance, so much to unravel here.

1:50So how did you get into, what got you interested in being a racing driver? So it's a very unconventional beginning with myself. I don't have a family history in motorsport, so it's really, I mean, I'm not too sure where it came from. Must have been come from the wrong family. Was there a moment? Did you see something on a screen? Did you see a... There wasn't even. I remember I went on my mom's laptop and it was like this game website with like 100, 200 games on it. And I just went through and there was a car parking game. Went on that. I could not get off of it. and then from then I must have been a four or five and then anytime there was a game I'm gonna do a car game and it just grew from that and same with riding a scooter riding a bike like as early as I could remember I would be like I'm getting off these bike stabilizers I'm riding my bike and I'd hear stories about like my granddad being like she just keeps running away from me on her bike I'm like okay sorry so it's just come from I think just a love of anything on wheels interesting but that was not around you in the family not around me at all and there's one thing playing a computer game and being interested in cars if you like but to then actually have that aspiration to race was was a competitive element to you that you know is there something that you loved and thrived on from competitiveness yeah I think definitely from when I remember going on well a scooter I'd always go as fast as I can if my sister was on a bike next to me I'm going to be the one who's going faster like I'll go up the hill faster I'll go down the hill way faster sometimes like flowing into a wall that's the downside of it um so you're all or nothing when you connect to something you are yeah absolutely and so talk about sport then because you're ultimately an athlete so that that you can't you can't you didn't even drive a car until you were 14 yeah so there's an element of building up competitiveness and and your your sort of fitness if you like where's that journey gone from a sport point of view yeah i mean from before i started in well go-karting it was really I would just be at home and it was especially through the COVID phase and I would just do nothing I was not interested in any team sports throughout school I tried doing field hockey I just absolutely hated it I think it's that thing of I was too scared to get it wrong that I never tried so I just did not gel to anything like that especially spore I was too nervous to go into a gym because I didn't want to see anyone well I didn't want anyone to look at me and think oh she's doing it wrong so I would just never do it until starting go-karting and that was something well it's I'm in the helmet they can't actually see me they don't really know who I am and it's just me do you love that feeling when you put that helmet on and oh absolutely and you're backing yourself at that point there's a confidence element to that as well where there's uh you back your own ability and you've got the competitive side of things yeah of course you're in a full suit gloves on and everything you've got a mirrored visor usually so no one can see who you're looking at what your facial expression is so it's just like poker face it looks like from the outside and i get into like a really good zone of okay this is like yeah this is me and this is what i like to do love that that's interesting so that part of you that almost didn't want the fear of rejection fear of being judged you're f1 academy you know we were together at the silverstone f1 yeah weekend just just just a week ago all eyes on you so how do you cope with that now yeah i think i've come into especially the formula one academy with watching it in the past seeing kind of what i like to take away from it almost not expecting that I would be racing in it so having that outsider view looking into it seeing how people react to it and having that knowledge and then going into it okay I know it's on a Formula One Grand Prix I actually don't care like almost in that sense of it is so cool I know there's so many people watching and everyone's going to have their own opinion on it but what I don't care I do this because I love to race and there's so many other people out there who have told me like who've got young daughters especially who think oh that's just really cool and that's what I like to see out of it I think we should unravel something quick as well here without that appreciation and gratitude you've got to be in that position which you've worked hard for and I'm going to reiterate that point about working hard because you are surrounded by fellow competitors that can afford to be there there is a massive barrier to entry to get into motorsport full stop absolutely and um you don't come from privilege you haven't got that kind of family check if you like that writes it out for you and then perhaps that gratitude is much stronger for you yeah absolutely like even beginning karting competitively you can go to a british kart championship weekend and it will cost thousands of pounds just to race in a go-kart for a weekend which is well in terms of all motorsport levels that's the base level so even trying to get out of that is super hard so I've always recognized from well when I've started if I do want to get out I'm gonna have to learn all these different skills different talents that is away from driving like talking like I was super shy I would not talk to anyone outside of my family outside of my sister and my parents could not do it um whereas now starting karting and realizing okay well I'm gonna have to do that and I'm gonna have to look like I'm gonna be enjoying it at the beginning it was super hard and I was super worried about that thing of okay am I gonna say the right thing like I'm really worried about talking to these people um but then growing and doing it I managed to win a scholarship at the beginning of 2025 to race in cars that massive breakthrough almost a full paid season and then yeah having that family that everyone's made such big sacrifices and then it's kind of on my shoulders then essentially to almost repay that in a sense of okay well if they've made all these sacrifices I'm going to try my best experience a membership that backs your business journey with American Express Business Platinum when you pay with membership rewards points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with a qualifying airline through Amex Travel you can get 35 % of those 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8:56Learn more at schwab.com slash trading. That's really important. And you've got a family team around you and an extended sponsorship and so on. And I met your sister. Yes. who's got that sort of two years on you, that little bit of extra maturity, and your maturity is phenomenal, by the way, and I'm going to come to that. But you've got that organic team that you've now got supporting you, fighting for you in the corner, doing the things that perhaps you haven't got the time for, you're not best at, if you like, that's kind of liaising with sponsorships and so on. But you're still so young. It's amazing how much you've done to get yourself on the grid.

9:30I want to understand a bit of the journey about perhaps who's helped you, how you've gone about getting the funding if that wasn't obviously there in the first place yeah absolutely I think where it almost begins is coming into the end of 2024 I was still that was my first full year of karting competitively in well the British championships and at that point we knew a few connections there was a connection from an Eric Lill foundation and then through that I had a few mentors entrepreneur mentors and I was quite close with them and they knew me before any of these scholarships came about so they just knew me a very raw very shy I had to do I remember I had to do a presentation to them and I was like couldn't even catch my breath because I was so nervous to talk to them so I knew from that and then that opened the door to meeting Gabby Logan and that was almost the turning point so that was in the middle of 2025 and that was kind of when we were thinking okay so what's the next step and then through Gabby she presented me with a Gabby's grant from Legends Global and that£15 ,000 was such a massive turning point and that funded two Formula 4 test days which is crazy to think about£15 ,000 as two days in a car which is ridiculous it's just motorsport intense expensive is but that gave you the opportunity to prove yourself absolutely i only needed one day and then the teams within f1 academy they now know who i am yes and i did one test day and the f1 academy was hosting a rookie test at the end of august and this test day i did was at the end of july so this is like we are tight for time and immediately after that one of the team's high tech which I now race for they said okay we want you in our simulator and by that point I'm sure they already thought okay we're going to take her to the test and I'm sure she's going to drive for us so it was like that one turning point was all it needed let's really love the shout out shout out to Gabby and to Legends Global right they created the opportunity which you take with both hands and then you have to do your bit, but it's important to shout that out.

11:54And I think just listening to you now, to use that word again, maturity, the version of you three years ago, sitting here now, so you would be nervous, you would be kind of struggling. I wouldn't even be in the room. I would not have been able to cope with getting a microphone on. I'd be so overwhelmed, like leading up to it, that I'd be like, I can't do it. I'd just be in panic. It's great that you can share that but also acknowledge it and have that sort of almost the flip of looking back on that. And your friends and the generation growing up that, you know, there's so much talk of the damage that COVID did to that sort of generation, if you like, of kids that disappeared in their phones and expectations and dreams they had at a certain time that were all literally locked down.

12:40and that communication skill that you now have, it's something that's lost on a lot of the kids. Have you noticed that now with some of the kids you grew up with that they don't have those skills? Yeah, I've definitely noticed that because I was part of that, especially like through lockdown, I was just as all my friends, we'd literally stay up until 9am in the morning and then sleep from 9am to 4pm and be just on our phones playing games the whole time and not being able to go outside well of course not being able to go outside but being able to speak with anyone there was just no interaction there was no interaction and then I found I moved away from home which is Edinburgh to study motorsport engineering and just outside of Bath two years ago now and I found since I made that move and I've had to put myself out there especially to try and make it in this motorsport world I've gained so much experience with talking to people when then when I go back home there I can't believe like how can you speak with a microphone in front of 500 people and like not freak out and I'm like honestly I would have freaked out two years ago yeah I'm almost impressed with myself every time like I can't believe like I've managed to do that and not be scared there's a there's a lovely message there which is that with your purpose and your passion fueled with a drive and I think that's the real key point I made at the beginning where a lot of people might be sitting here reflective talking about what they've done and what advice would you give to your younger self and that kind of stuff whereas you're you're actually in the moment now of course there's a little bit of reflection like yeah three years ago i couldn't have done this but there's it's a growth mindset isn't it it's that whole actually i have got passion and drive to do something and if i don't do it it won't happen and you've learned this so early and you're getting the results yeah absolutely every single time i'll do a speaking event or I'm on the track every single time there's stuff okay I know I can improve on that every single time and then every little bit gets a little bit better and then there's like a breakthrough and then I'm okay this is how I like to operate and this is how I found I like to do some preparation I found I usually work best when it's made to be quite a chill environment I found that a lot in racing I'm well I guess it's the same with every sport of when you're excited and happy within your sport you're going to perform the best that's interesting because the the the whole environment and the association of racing is fast and it's intense and it's innovation and needs to have actually amongst what is hugely intense competitive stuff going around you you'll seek the calm you'll look to actually have be in control of what you can control to come in to be the best you can yeah like it's that case i've found like there's so many people especially now have moved up into car racing you've got two mechanics you've got an engineer you've got people doing tires you've got a team manager you've got so many people making the car operate whereas in karting you've got well my dad started off being my mechanic so it's just my dad and I like there's not really anyone else that's relying on on me almost whereas now there's so many people and I've found I've tried being both ends of the spectrum of trying to be super serious like okay I'm here to do a job like let's get the job done and I found okay that doesn't actually work for me because that just makes it so pressurized of I've got 20 people here this weekend that I can let down and that's just running through my mind whereas now even though I'm still just starting I found that I think how I like to work is if everyone's having a fun time of course Obviously, it's not like, oh, just having banter all the time.

16:18There is an element of, I feel I can only have fun at a weekend if I've done all my preparation. So when I arrive to the weekend, I can afford to just, okay, all the preparations in the back of my head. It's there. I don't need to try anymore. Can you talk me through a bit of that, both physically and mentally? So the athlete that you are means that there'll be an element of training. But there's a mindset. there's a strength coming across from you that is kind of way beyond your years if you like but you've worked out already what seems to be working what does that look like are you meditating are you are you kind of having a morning routine i want to open that bit up my preparation i mean i'm learning every single time i go out but like recently it's just so i do a lot of simulator work i do a lot of off-track work of how i can kind of tap into that mental part of okay this is fun instead of arriving to a weekend and thinking oh I'm a little bit nervous now like what if everyone else has done these many track days like I'm a little bit nervous so all my preparation is kind of made to come into a weekend without any unknowns as I call it so I try and make everything known so I try okay this in a dry lap this is how it's gonna look this is where I want to place the car in a wet lap this is where I want to place the car there's visualization visualization exactly and then when you get to the weekend oh my goodness it's started to rain like everyone's just throwing their hands up putting wet tires on it's like okay well I don't need to stress out thinking can someone get me a wet lap on board or anything like that I just okay understood it's going to be different let's just do it instead of I've been on the opposite side of I'm super nervous like I need someone to feed me all this data right now but that doesn't work for me that's so interesting to listen to you and at silverstone you came fourth out of a grid of 18 yes and the only time you really spent on track was the two races previous to that yeah we had a couple cancelled at the early in the year and a real lack of testing because of lack of funds yeah so you're racing it's people that at any one time are going off and doing other series have access to track time and so on so you're you're you're almost forced to piece this together and visualize because you don't have access to that they can afford to make mistakes i can't afford to make mistakes so coming into those formula one academy race weekends where they are meant to be okay this is your performance needing to be displayed right now whereas a lot of the other drivers they have extra test days they can mess about for a day learning the car just like throwing it into a corner how it reacts same with their other race weekends a lot of them are doing multiple race series whereas okay I'm only doing the academy I'm using these weekends as actually testing for myself as well so I'm racing and I'm still trying to work on driving things instead of actually okay I've got cars behind me I want to defend or overtake but actually okay but I still need to improve this corner so it's making it very almost odd dynamic of okay this is the massive platform that I'm racing on, but I'm using it to test.

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20:42And that's something we'll come to about kind of where this can all go with the exciting time in women's sport. But that's crazy to say that you are, because you are, you're literally learning in full view of a global audience, if you like, following the F1 circus. But you're just, you're literally learning real time. So that visualization and that work you can do outside of the sort of team and those weekends, do you feel you're doing more than anyone else because you need to? Yeah, I think how I do it is differently. So how I work on myself is probably different to a lot of the other drivers.

21:22So I try to work a lot on the mental side. like I've found since I've begun karting and while racing in these Formula 4 cars like the first day I ever do well the first day I ever drive seems to always be the best because I'm not thinking about it so I actually spend so much of my time kind of trying to learn okay how can I be in that flow mind space of okay I actually know how to drive I don't need to overthink it like I think throughout motorsport especially you can be told so many different things from an engineer from a coach of okay this is how you do the corner this person did this corner like this way and you have to just try copy that so I've almost spent the first two rounds of this Formula One Academy trying to copy other people's references and it just doesn't work for me because then I'm thinking too much whereas I actually just work on arriving there no thoughts in my head just drive and that always get extracts the best out of me yeah so it's almost how I prepare is yes I prepare a lot but it's trying not to over complicate it I prepare so much that I can just simplify it into a few words it makes so much sense we can get in the way of ourselves in our own head right yeah so you turn up and you're quick yeah and then you could almost slow yourself down by overthinking absolutely like I get questions of so first session was super good on a practice day oh why were you quick okay I don't know I don't know why I was quick and then it starts picking a p picking apart all these different corners of like you've got telemetry and data for well motorsport and I'm sure a lot of other sport and I was super good at reading it but then I try take too much so then I go out the session after and I'm like okay I'm trying to do this different brake shape which looks like a triangle but you release the brake a little bit quicker but you also get on throttled at this point with this much steering lock and it's like oh my goodness I'm then thinking about 15 things per corner instead of just driving it wow this is fascinating I tell you what's really exciting about this is because you're still learning so much the fact that you are clearly naturally quick you know then when you build this whole way of working the mental side of things that you're evolving all the time when those two ultimately click and come together yeah it's really quite exciting where where you'll be able to go and let's talk about that that's sort of almost like ambitions and the visualization which is key thing to you how far can you go i think the sky's the limit for this especially such a great time to enter the sport women in motorsport especially that's a massive growth um and there's a big market for it and I'm striving not just to be the best woman that's something I never have almost supported in a way of I think every woman who drives should want to be the best out of everyone so that's that's my aim and that's to then graduate from the Formula One Academy and go back into mixed racing as that's where you're going to find the best talent who's going to be at the top and that's where I want to be and what does that look like for you because Formula One's always talked about as the pinnacle yeah so if you are suggesting that you prove yourself in the f1 academy to then go to mixed racing is the next step into formula one or would that be into sports car racing and then into f1 and is there a pressure there that you know as we sit here now there's never been a woman competitively racing in f1 and do you embrace that do you see that as an extra challenge where like that's going to be me yeah absolutely i think there's almost a classic question now of i've got asked a few times oh when is there going to be a woman in formula one when is this going to happen and i think it's super important to realize especially in motorsport where yeah the female numbers are rising but if you take a look at it there's 99 male drivers to one percent female drivers so the ratio is completely the ratio is completely off so the talent pool is far less for women so how well a lot of the formula one drivers currently they work they've been picked up as literally babies like they've been picked up by formula one teams and they've had that plan whereas with women it's only now like in karting where you learn your basic skills there's not many um so that needs to grow and of course i would love to get to the highest level of motorsport i can whether that be in any discipline i would just love to be able to winning in a mixed environment yeah absolutely yeah where everyone's fair there's no comments on oh you've just won formula one academy you're just the best of the girls got it like of course that of course that is and well an achievement because all the girls racing in it now especially each year it progresses the level progresses yes so it is is no easy job to finish first out of these girls especially not like this year but then going into a mixed grid where you can't have those comments because well how how would you be able to say oh you're just the best girl i get that so that's the competitive element that's the that covers the ratio and then there's this these countless conversations that are relatively archaic but still exist about the physical abilities of girls.

26:54And I'm a dad of two daughters, and in the business world, sort of less than 2 % of venture capitalist funding goes to women, and it's like, why? It's often not just archaic, broken structures, it's lack of belief, and a bit like you just said, the ratio element. But there's stories like they made the film out of The Girl and the Sea, where I'm terrible to forget her name, but Disney made that film about the woman that swam the channel, and it had only been done by men and men were scoffing at the fact that women couldn't swim the same way as men and would never achieve what they'd done and then she smashes the record so i've taken a long way to get to the question that it's like is there anything in this whole like oh you know women aren't strong enough in the neck and the body to survive an f1 race yeah i mean it is the physicality of course men do have that advantage whereas women it just takes more dedication to reach that level like there's a few good female examples within higher levels who are competing at the front can be as quick in a formula three level there's yet to be moving up into a formula two level but it's almost the case of when you reach formula two it's almost harder physically than formula one as you don't have any power steering at that level you cars are still very heavy whereas you get to formula one of course your your neck is going to take a lot of the load and it's that endurance whereas you've then got power steering it's a little bit easier on the muscles but until you reach that level it's hard like there's been multiple women who have done test days in a formula one car and none of them have appeared to not be able to drive out of the pit lane no they're all able to do that because there's some really really um damaging stuff that gets put out there about the fact that you know it's it's women can't do it and it's just all been wrong in the history of everything else that's gone before it you can get those comments because there's never been a woman to do it but okay now there is in this day and age there's been women to test formula one cars okay you can see it on video they can do it so you can't you can't even have that argument anymore no something i really liked we obviously had uh dinner last night and i really your sister sophie showed me the tatler front cover three of you on there you looking all glam and it's so it was so clear to me that that was the least interesting part to you You understand the value of it, the exposure, but you want to prove yourself on the track as an athlete, as a racing driver.

29:24And then you'll do anything else that comes into that space. Absolutely. Which I think makes you probably quite different to your peers. You know, you want to prove yourself there and then you'll do something else. Have I got that right? Yeah, absolutely do. I mean, I really appreciate, especially in my case, I can't just turn down a tattler and nor would I want to because it is such great exposure. and it's tapping into different markets whereas you do I mean I'm typically more of like a tomboy I'm dressed in fitness clothes all the time um not glamorous dresses and high heels um but I appreciate like okay to make it this comes with it it's I mean motorsport especially formula one it's a very glamorous job all the formula one drivers they're modeling on the side all the time and then even in Tatler I knew there would be some comments about oh do they even drive like there was comments on social media under the cover of three of us drivers in the Formula One Academy saying oh do they even drive they're better models than drivers and it's like it's almost the thing of I get why they think that of oh they're not driving why are they doing modeling they should be driving but it's then that misconception of okay if we were able to drive we would be um so i'm appreciating the fact of okay i would never really choose to be in ball gowns all day i would of course rather be covered in muck from doing go-karting or driving a car but it just comes with it yeah i love that i think that's uh something i i get a feeling inside just talking to you about the fact that you know you're so committed to what you want to achieve out of it nothing else will distract you yeah and then that visualization training all the all the stuff that is really important because that can be overtaken by the distraction of doing stuff for brands and so on at the detriment of the performance on the track or on the pitch or the field depending on what the sport might be yeah it's always keeping to know okay why do i do this i do this because i want to drive i don't do this because i secretly want to use this to get a modeling career and that's something that comes with it and boosts it like I think people need to realize what F1 Academy's goal is is to just boost females in motorsport not trying to claim that this is the pinnacle of what females will achieve in motorsport at this Formula 4 level this is just a junior series and a stepping stone for females in motorsport to be on that global stage and show okay we can race and our races are actually really competitive and I've even seen it in over the couple of years I was actually against Formula One Academy when it first started as I thought okay there's just not enough women to put in because you get the girl who's P1 and she's actually a really good driver but then you'd go down to P18 and it's just there's not enough woman to have in the field racing together which are close together whereas now all the drivers are within a second of each other so you've got 18 drivers within a second and it's like those previous hate comments are kind of turning into a way it's actually quite interesting so there's been a big shift of comments like that When you think like an athlete, setbacks don't stop you.

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33:34Intuit Credit Karma. Karma you can count on. Download today. that's really interesting to hear your articulation then that you gave your why yeah uh rachel's why and then kind of the the f1 academy's why which um it just really helpful for me to understand that and you mentioned when we when we left that conversation about all the kind of a glitz glam modeling element that can go with it the byproduct that i feel that you are benefiting from so massively is the selling yourself uh the those communications because we talked about which you're again beautifully articulating now and the fact that this transcends to all the things that you're doing of course your why is to have a successful career in motor racing but you know that that you don't learn this in school which i'm going at you know 18 to be as i'm going to say the word accomplished if you like as you are ready and you're just getting going is it was remarkable you know i pay the biggest compliment in saying that do you feel that do you feel that that elevation and the fact that there's been so much benefit that's come to you outside of basically being behind the wheel that's now growing you as a businesswoman yeah absolutely I see it well in every walks of life I now enter like I've entered a room full of businessmen and I'm just stood there okay I'm 18 I feel like okay should I be in this room and then I get talking to them and I'm like oh I can actually talk um so it's that yeah and they're interested in you yeah i saw that in the paddock club hospitality at the f1 and yes you were you were there with um serious people yeah and it's so good to be able to go into so many different things like i've got friends who drive mainly but they were actually working at silberston as expert hosts so you can almost put yourself in so many different areas and then you get to meet more people and then you can go so many places within motorsport if you've got that driving background as well so it's super key and I find it's massively helped I could keep talking to you all day this has been a conversation I look forward to and I think that kind of in the moment the relevance and the excitement of where potentially you could go I very much want to stay in touch with you and help you in any way I can at any time.

36:00And thank you for making time to talk to me today. Thank you so much. It's been great. Rachel, thank you.

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From the publisher

At just 18 years old, Rachel Robertson is already proving that extraordinary stories don't always take decades to unfold.


In this inspiring episode of Extraordinary Life Stories, host John Reynolds sits down with one of Britain's brightest motorsport talents as she shares her remarkable journey from a shy teenager with no family connections to racing on the F1 Academy grid.


Rachel opens up about overcoming crippling self-doubt, finding confidence through competition, and the relentless determination it takes to succeed in a sport where talent alone isn't enough. Without the financial backing many of her rivals enjoy, she reveals how scholarships, resilience and an unwavering belief in herself have helped turn an impossible dream into reality.


The conversation explores the mental side of elite performance, the importance of visualisation, learning under immense pressure, and why she believes women shouldn't aspire to be the best female drivers, but simply the best drivers.


This is an honest, uplifting and fascinating insight into one of motorsport's rising stars, offering valuable lessons on confidence, resilience, preparation and pursuing excellence against the odds.


Whether you're a motorsport fan, an aspiring athlete or simply love hearing extraordinary stories of determination and resilience, this is an episode you won't want to miss.


Extraordinary Life Stories is proudly sponsored by IFS.ai

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