Interview
Robertson encouraged by ‘big step up’ in Shanghai but recognises room for improvement
Rookie driver Rachel Robertson may have missed out on scoring points in Shanghai, but she was nevertheless satisfied with the improvements she’s made over such a short period of time.
The PUMA-backed driver made her F1 ACADEMY debut at last season’s finale in Las Vegas, where she replaced the injured Aiva Anagnostiadis and made the most of the opportunity by claiming P4 in Race 1, marking Hitech’s best finish of the year.
The drive earned her a full-time seat and she hit the ground running in Shanghai, demonstrating rapid pace in Free Practice before just missing out on the top 10 in Qualifying. Robertson then got stuck into a three-way battle for the final points in the Reverse Grid Race but couldn’t quite maintain the position and eventually settled for P10.
“It’s very positive – there are lots of glimpses of corners I’ve done which is really good and on par with Alisha (Palmowski) on pole,” she reflected. “The big thing was adapting to that Formula 1 grip that they put down for Qualifying and the races.
“It’s all a learning experience, especially in the first round, but that was a big step up. In the first race, it kind of all came together the more understanding I had. With both races, the racing was really good.
“My teammate and I and a few others were battling the whole way and the times were very close – pretty much everyone on the grid was within half a second of each other, so it was really good racing. It really unveiled a lot of things to work on further, especially with F1 ACADEMY supporting Formula 1. There are a lot of differences that that brings.”
Robertson’s ambitions of securing points in her first round of the season were ultimately left unfulfilled as she clashed with her Hitech teammate, Wild Card driver Shi Wei, on Lap 10 of the Feature Race and was unable to finish.
Nevertheless, she was eager to focus on how much she has learned since her shock debut in Las Vegas, emphasising that there have been “massive improvements” in regard to her “driving technique and the racecraft element”.
“Compared to last year when the times were so spread out, now it’s so competitive with everyone, so it really does matter how you race and put together a lap in Qualifying,” Robertson explained. “Everything is almost needing (to be) finetuned, whereas last year it was still a bit unknown. It was almost that I don’t know what I don’t know, so now it’s about learning.”
With several weeks to hone her performance ahead of Round 2 in Montreal, the British driver hopes to use her previous experience at the high-speed Las Vegas street circuit to quickly get to grips with the layout.
Asked whether the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve will be a greater challenge – with no testing on offer at the track beforehand – Robertson replied: “Definitely. I think with everyone on the grid, especially all the rookies that haven’t raced there or tested there before, it’s going to be new for all of us.
“What I have with racing in Las Vegas last year is that little bit of knowledge of you can’t really expect anything, because it is a street circuit.
“The tarmac is going to be completely different – it’s got road cars being driven on it, it’ll be dusty and it’s going to have a completely different feel. Just going into it and having that open mind – you can’t have tunnel vision of ‘I want to brake here, I want to turn here’.”