‘Have Fun, Relax, and Have Faith!’ Payton’s Letter to Her Younger Self

Payton Riley Westcott, it’s go-time.

It’s the eve of the biggest season in your racing career so far. In Shanghai tomorrow, the eyes of the watching world will be on you for the first time.

Let’s show ‘em all what you can do.

It’s been a few months since you got the call from Mercedes – they were a big deal for you back then – and they are a big deal now.

You didn’t feel ready at first, but now you’re confident, excited, and ready to show everyone what you have learned and how you have grown when you get out on track with F1 ACADEMY.

This year is about growth, opportunity, and exposure.

As you come up through the racing ranks, you’ll learn more about a racer called Niki Lauda.

He was so important to the Mercedes team, and you have learned a lot from his story – you admire how he analysed things, and you love how determined he was.

His life was all about resilience, and that is what you shall need on your racing journey.

Whenever you start a new series or move up an age group, you’ll start at the back and have to work your way forward. But you will.

2026 might have difficult moments, and you will have to earn everything you achieve. But you’ve done it before, and you can do it again, no one will be as competitive as you.

You watched F1 ACADEMY for a few races in 2025, and took part yourself in Las Vegas, but now these racers are your full-time rivals, and you want to win, and you want to earn it.

In your karting days you’ll stay up late one night scrubbing the floor of the trailer your team is working out of that weekend.

The next day you will be tired, but you will go into the final race knowing that your hard work and graft has made you deserve victory. You will win that race.

One of the first races you will win in your career will be at Buttonwillow, in the California desert. You’ll have to overcome setbacks and incidents, but you will win from 12^th on the grid.

As you cross the line you will feel lifted, buzzing with energy.

That will feel like a long way from the six-year-old who didn’t know what the flags meant when she first stepped into a go-kart and just kept going round before the marshals had to stand in the middle of the track to bring her in.

You’ve been beating your parents and brother in go-karts since you were nine years old.

You love having your family with you, they keep you grounded, they calm you down, and keep you focused.

You’ll need them, just as you’ll need the best of yourself, for the next stage of your career.

So have fun, relax, and have faith, Payton, there’s a world of opportunity out there.

Go grab it.