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PIT STOP PLAYLISTS: Robertson on the songs that keep racing fun
From childhood skull tattoos and songs inherited from her dad to the music that stops her overthinking a race weekend, PUMA F1 ACADEMY driver Rachel Robertson takes us through the soundtrack to her life on and off-track.
At six years old, Robertson had a skull tattoo on her neck. Temporary, admittedly, but it was not the only one. Trips to the arcade would often end with the Scot spending her prize money on a full tattoo sleeve that she could roll over her arm. It is, she says, a fairly accurate indication of the kind of child she was.
That makes the first choice for her Pit Stop Playlist particularly fitting.
Icona Pop and Charli XCX’s “I Love It” was a childhood favourite until it was banned in the Robertson household because of some of its inappropriate lyrics, something the young Robertson had not even noticed.
“My family said, ‘No, you can’t listen to that song,’ and I was like, ‘All right… why?’” she recalls.
“At that time, I was one of those kids… In my primary school pictures when I was six, I had a skull tattoo on my neck, specifically a skull pirate tattoo. At an arcade, I used to buy, as a prize, a full tattoo sleeve that I would just roll up my arm.”
The song still feels like her now, although for a slightly different reason.
“That’s always stuck with me,” says the PUMA driver. “It’s like, ‘I don’t care. I’ll just do my own thing and people can think what they want about it.’”
It is an attitude that Robertson has carried into racing. Reputation does little to change the way she approaches another driver once the visor comes down.
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“You can have all your preconceived thoughts of, ‘Oh, this driver is meant to be really, really good. I don’t want to be in their way when we’re racing.’ But I think, all right, they can get past me just as much as they can get past the next person. I do not care what kind of credentials they have. I’m just going to do my own thing.”
Yet that relaxed attitude is made possible by something considerably more methodical. Robertson likes to have almost all of her preparation completed at least a week before a race weekend. By the time she arrives at the track, she does not want to be cramming in more information or worrying about what she might have missed.
Her song for that journey is Calvin Harris’ “Ready for the Weekend”, a track that has followed her from karting into F1 ACADEMY.
“I’ll try to complete all of (my prep) at least the week before a race,” Robertson explains. “Then, in the week leading up to it and the weekend itself, there’s nothing new I can really gain from getting more information about what’s going to happen or what’s this, what’s that, because I’ve already covered everything in the weeks leading up to it.
“So, I’ll get to a race weekend and, by that point, I’ve done all my practice. It’s like waiting for an exam. I’ve done everything I can. There’s no point even trying to learn anything more because it’s a bit late now. I’m here.”
It’s just that point of thinking there’s no point stressing about anything that happens from now on because that’s not really in my control.
During her karting years, “Ready for the Weekend” would play in the van with her dad on the way to the circuit, including on the morning of Qualifying. That preparation also gives Robertson room to loosen up once she gets to the circuit.
“It’s just that point of thinking there’s no point stressing about anything that happens from now on because that’s not really in my control,” she says.
“Because I’ve prepared so much, I can actually not be so serious,” she laughs. “I don’t have to have my eyes locked in tunnel vision for a race weekend.”
That balance has become particularly important during her first F1 ACADEMY season.
Robertson admits that her instinct is to analyse, even when things have gone well. After a strong result, she opts for The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” specifically to pull herself out of that mindset.
“I try to pick really upbeat, happy songs to force me not to think about, ‘Oh, I could have done this better,’” she explains. “Even if I’d won Qualifying or won a race, I’d be thinking, ‘Oh, there’s more to gain.’
“I’ll always use songs like this to get me out of that analysing mood. The race is over. I can have all the time in the world after the weekend to analyse this. Now is not the time. Otherwise, it’s just going to creep in and literally consume my brain.”
After a difficult weekend, the same rule applies. For those moments, Robertson chose Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”, which became particularly relevant after the opening two rounds of her 2026 campaign.
“Even looking at this year, and the first two rounds of F1 ACADEMY, I had a shocking two rounds,” she admits. “I just could not get a Qualifying together. I hit a wall, which stopped that progress in the races.
“Again, Don’t Stop Believin’ is another upbeat song because I don’t want to feed into the, ‘Oh, I hate my performance. It was so rubbish.’ I can’t dwell on it any longer because I still need to get results by the end of the year to secure my place for next year.
“I’m sure there are people who go down the super-sad-song route, but I can’t do that. I cannot feed into it.”
One of the quieter songs on Robertson’s playlist carries a gentler kind of reassurance. Billy Joel’s “Vienna”, a song synonymous with coming-of-age and big dreams, is connected not to one specific memory she has, but to the path the driver has taken through her motorsport career.
Robertson only began racing competitively at 15, far later than many of the drivers she now finds herself competing against.
“The key line about slowing down and doing fine, I really like the whole meaning of that song,” she says. “It brings back that perspective of, ‘I am doing fine right now. There’s no need to pick apart my brain and think, “Oh, I’m too late to start this. I’m too old for this now,”’ especially in motorsport.
“It’s a song I’ve really liked for years because of that meaning.”
Its message has followed her throughout her career.
“Everything I’ve done has been considered late for any driver, girl or boy, so it’s definitely one that connects to that.”
Starting her career at 15 also meant motorsport arrived at the same time as many of Robertson’s childhood friends were gaining more independence.
Now 19, she admits that racing has meant missing out on parts of a more conventional teenage experience.
“I’ve missed that age,” she sighs. “Now I’m 19 and it’s been the same from 15 to 19. I’ve missed that adventurous stage with my friends, figuring things out.
I’ve missed that adventurous stage with my friends, figuring things out.
“I’m away pretty much most weekends, which is when everyone is meeting up together and going out. That side is definitely something I’ve missed out on the most.”
Home, then, builds an important theme of her playlist. The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”, is a song Robertson grew up hearing at football matches she attended with her dad. The Proclaimers were also her first concert.
“It couldn’t get much more, ‘I’m from Scotland,’ than that,” she laughs. “Of course, I’m going to pick that because I’m Scottish, but you actually do grow up around it.”
But her dad’s influence stretches far beyond that one song. Robertson estimates that around 50% of her playlist can be traced back to music he introduced her to as a child. The Alan Parsons Project’s “Sirius”, her choice for getting into the zone before climbing into the car, is another.
“The whole mood of the song is about getting in the zone. When it plays, it really gets you into that zone of, ‘Okay, I’m about to race all the other drivers as hard as I can.’”
For all that, Robertson is not a driver who needs headphones on moments before getting into the car. She is just as happy with whatever her team has playing over the garage speakers and admits that giving herself control of the playlist can be counterproductive.
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“Sometimes I get too into trying to pick a song, so I’ll end up taking 10 minutes to myself, listening to about one song during those 10 minutes and just skipping through the rest.”
Her race morning choice, Scissor Sisters’ “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”, again comes from Robertson’s deep connection to home and childhood. At 15 or 16, the racing driver worked in a garage and would listen to it while walking to work at around 8am.
“Every time I put that on, I would think, ‘Okay, I can do this nine-to-five. I can survive it,’” she says. “That’s kind of stuck until now.”
There is, however, by Robertson’s own admission, “zero consistency” to the music she likes.
Example’s “Kickstarts” is currently on repeat after being rediscovered years later, while Strawberry Guy’s much calmer “Mrs Magic” is the song she thinks might surprise people most.
Robertson describes herself as “more of a tomboy-ish person”, and comes across as someone who is incredibly funny and energetic. “Mrs Magic” sits at the opposite end of that.
“It’s just (a song) I’ve always liked,” she says. “It’s one of those songs that’s super chill. It’s not going to make your heart rate increase or anything. I can just properly calm down.”
There’s no point in doing anything if you don’t find it fun.
Despite how much she loves the song, however, there is one situation where it stays firmly off the playlist.
“I would not listen to that if I’d had a bad race, because that would make me spiral into, ‘Oh, I hate life. This is so bad'. ” The apparent randomness of Robertson’s 10 choices begins to make more sense when viewed together. Most remind her of her dad. Most connect her to home. But there is one idea running through almost all of them.
“There’s no point in doing anything if you don’t find it fun,” Robertson says.
“(Music) is what I find enhances that fun and reminds me, and others who are unfortunate enough to be in the car with me, to remember that this is just fun. So let’s loosen up a bit. “Of course, it’s serious, but you cannot be serious 100% of the time. It’s not going to do you any favours.”
That is something Robertson says she has learned over the course of the season. Earlier in the year, difficult performances made her want to become even more serious, as though allowing herself to enjoy anything meant ignoring what had gone wrong.
Now, her approach is rather different.
“I’ve come from being super serious, thinking, ‘I cannot have any fun because this is rubbish. I cannot let myself do that,’ Whereas now I’m like, ‘Nah, it needs to be fun,’ because I’ve tried being serious all the time and it does not work.”
Rachel Robertson's Playlist:
- The song she listens to on the way to a race weekend - Ready For The Weekend by Calvin Harris
- Her race morning song - I Don't Feel Like Dancin' by Scissor Sisters
- The song that gets her in the zone before getting in the car - Sirius by the Alan Parsons Project
- The song she plays after a great result - I Gotta Feelin’ by Black Eyed Peas
- The song she turns to after a difficult weekend - Don't Stop Believin’ by Journey
- A song that reminds her of home - I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) by The Proclaimers
- A song connected to an important memory - Vienna by Billy Joel
- The song she currently has on repeat - Kickstarts by Example
- A song people might be surprised she listens to - Mrs Magic by Strawberry Guy
- One song that feels most like her - I Love It by Charli XCX