Edinburgh teenager set to race in all-female series backed by F1
Rachel Robertson is a motorsport engineering student and will be competing across the world this year
A teenage student from Scotland is preparing for her first full season in an all-women racing series backed by Formula 1.
18-year-old Rachel Robertson, who studies Motorsport Engineering at Wiltshire College in Chippenham but is originally from Edinburgh, is taking part in this years F1 Academy championship with the PUMA team, run by Hitech Grand Prix.
She made her debut in the series at the final reason of the 2025 season in Las Vegas, scoring five points across the weekend's two races.
The Scottish driver told us it was a surreal feeling once she had the drive confirmed at just four days in the car, following a test in September.
"Nothing then was confirmed until December 2025. I almost like didn't quite believe it because it didn't feel quite real in a way," Rachel said.
Drivers will compete in cars capable of up to 240km/h on some of the fastest and most famous circuits in the world.
The season kicks off in China this weekend, and is set to visit locations such as Montreal, Silverstone, Texas and Las Vegas, which all be on weekends alongside Formula 1, where the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen will be competing.
Excitement ahead of the new season
Rachel told us she's excited to be racing at the same time as the pinnacle of motorsport, saying it brings added exposure and opportunities to learn.
"There's going to be so many networking opportunities," she said. "I can learn so much off of everyone who's been in this experience and now is kind of a mentor to all us drivers."
She added that she's also looking forward to racing at the Circuit of the America's in Texas, saying it will be "different experience".
Rachel said she hopes to visit the Lone Star State and experience it's unique culture stemming from it's history of cowboys and horses.
Racing "for as long as I can remember"
Rachel says she's been "obsessed" with driving since a young age, recounting how she spent her childhood enjoying riding a bike, using a scooter or playing racing games on her Nintendo DS.
But she didn't start watching or taking part in motorsport until she was 14 and Rachel's first experience of go-karting was at a local indoor karting venue.
After regular visits, she made the step to outdoor karting to continue challenging herself before getting her own kart and going racing, rising up the junior ladder to reach F1 Academy.
As she began racing competitively, Rachel found herself mostly racing against boys, but told us she never let that both her and it shouldn't be a barrier for any other young girls wanting to hit the track.
"I find that as a challenge, that actually motivates me to do better because I want to prove everyone wrong. I just think like that's what us girls have like stored in us," she said.