
Ruth Buscombe
Ruth is one of the most highly respected race strategists in Formula 1, having worked for the Ferrari, Haas and Alfa Romeo teams. She now works as an Analyst, Strategist and Commentator for Formula 1 and F1 TV, bringing insight into race-defining strategic decisions and explaining the intricacies of data-driven decision making. As one of Formula 1’s most successful female engineering leaders, Ruth is an advocate for women in STEM and Engineering – having been an ambassador for Susie Wolff’s Dare to be Different, now the FIA Girls on Track initiative, since 2016. Ruth has also been a consultant on the new F1 movie with Brad Pitt, working closely with Lewis Hamilton (who has co-produced the film).
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Ruth Buscombe's 2025 biography
About Ruth Buscombe
Ruth Buscombe is one of Formula 1’s most highly respected race strategists, now working for the Formula 1 Group following a career spent supporting some of the sport’s best known drivers and teams. Her expertise lies in data analysis and race strategy management, critical capabilities for teams competing in this complex, data-driven sport.
A first-class honours graduate of the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering Ruth began working in Formula 1 with the world famous Scuderia Ferrari at its Maranello headquarters in 2012. This followed the completion of her Masters Thesis with the FIA, the sports governing body, on the Drag Reduction System (DRS). This was later introduced to help improve overtaking opportunities in the sport.
Ruth worked at Ferrari as a Simulations Engineer and later a Race Strategist. Managing strategy from the team’s remote strategy room back at headquarters in Italy, she worked as the car-based strategist for drivers including Formula 1 World Champions Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.
Ruth played a key role in the race winning tactics which secured Sebastian Vettel’s first win with Ferrari in the 2015 Malaysia Grand Prix.
Ruth later moved to the American Haas F1 Team in November 2015 as the team’s trackside strategy engineer and kickstarted their journey in F1 with a double points finish in the first two races of the season. She subsequently moved to Sauber, helping the Swiss team to finish ahead of rival Manor Racing in the 2016 Constructors’ Championship.
Ruth spent eight seasons at the famous Hinwil-based squad as Head of Race Strategy between 2016 and 2023. She worked with current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc during his debut season in Formula 1 in 2018 and helped the team to secure a decade best sixth place in the Formula 1 World Championship for Constructors in 2022 before leaving Sauber at the end of 2023.
Ruth now works as an Analyst, Strategist, Presenter and Commentator for Formula 1 and F1 TV, bringing insight into race-defining strategic decisions to viewers across the world. In this role she also speaks at corporate events within Formula 1, explaining the intricacies of race strategy and data-driven decision making.
As one of Formula 1’s most successful female engineering leaders Ruth is an advocate for women in STEM and Engineering – having been an ambassador for Susie Wolff’s Dare to be Different, now the FIA Girls on Track initiative, since 2016.
Ruth Buscombe's 2025 talks & topics
Leadership
The requirements of Formula One’s team leaders have changed significantly in recently years as teams have become larger, more complex, and the business model to which the sport operates has been transformed.  The leaders in F1 today are responsible for leading up to 1800 full time employees, creating a high-performance organisation which is fully aligned behind a strategy aimed at achieving a set of well defined, ambitious goals.
Competitive team leaders create a culture in which team personnel take responsibility and are happy to be held accountable for their performance.  Developing a high degree of psychological safety is key, requiring staff to speak up and speak out, with strong cross functional communications.  A relentless focus on continuous improvement is part of the F1 leaders mindset, and teams take a data-driven approach to measuring performance, highlighting issues and analysing developments. But whilst F1 is a technocentric sport, the successful leaders recognise that it is the people who make a difference. This is why so much effort is deployed to create an environment within which employees thrive, using their combined talents to problem solve and create highly innovative solutions in order to drive competitive advantage.
Teamwork/Collaboration
Competitive Formula One teams comprise 1800 staff, less than 10% of whom attend the race events, so teamwork requires complete alignment, shared purpose and close collaboration across the business.  The world championship includes 24 Grands Prix and these represent a series of non-negotiable deadlines which the entire organisation has to meet in terms of car development, hardware and software upgrades.  The ultimate, public example of high-performance teamwork comes in the form of the mandatory pit stops which have to be performed during a race – the record now stands at 1.8 seconds during which 22 staff carry out 36 tasks under extreme pressure. Alignment behind the team’s strategies and ambitious goals is vital, so too having the agility to flex the strategy in the face of constant changes in technology and the performance of competitors.
Data-driven performance & Innovation
More than any other sport, Formula One has embraced a data-driven business culture, particularly with its near obsession with marginal gains and continuous improvement. F1 teams use data to enable drivers, engineers and HQ staff to determine precisely how the car and driver is behaving, diagnose issues, resolve problems and speed up decision making. As information flows seamlessly around the globe, linking car, team and factory, tech security is essential and robust systems ensure protection from multiple threats.
The use of simulators has transformed driver training, enabling systems to be learned, tested and developed in a virtual environment prior to real-world deployment. And with the advent of additive manufacturing, machine learning, AI and GenAI across F1, the sport’s use of technology to innovate and transform all aspects of its operations is set to accelerate further.
Safety & Risk Management
Safety is a first order priority in Formula One and the last 30 years have seen a profound change to the way in which the sport manages risk. Between 1950 and 1994, there were over 40 driver fatalities at races; there has been one since. This has been made possible by creating clear priorities as regards safety. Compliance is non-negotiable. Safety is not an area of competitive advantage. Safety systems, processes and technologies are shared so that F1 doesn’t have islands of excellence in oceans of mediocrity.
However, the risk averse teams never win in F1 – the teams which embrace and manage risk are more likely to try new things, innovate in ways both small and large, and ultimately drive competitive advantage. It’s the difference between participating and competing. The other factor is ‘fear of failure’. Teams that have a blame culture create such a degree of fear that everyone minimises their contribution and hides their mistakes, whereas those which thrive on creating a learning environment of continuous improvement have a degree of openness, honesty and transparency which promotes creativity and innovation, and taking risks, in a controlled way.
Change & Transformation
Every industry is witnessing change and Formula One is no different. One of the challenges facing F1 teams is that the sector is ever-changing – so change management and leading teams through periods of transformation is an essential part of the job.  Change comes in many forms; technology, compliance, competition, customer demands, environmental and social issues.  F1 has had to reinvent its business model, embrace digitalisations, adapt to a changing media and social landscape. Above all, F1’s leadership teams have had to communicate, manage and implement transformation strategies, bringing their teams with them and ensuring that they make the most from embracing change.
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion
Often perceived as a male-dominated sport, Formula One has invested heavily in gender diversity, also generating equal opportunities and inclusion for anyone from an under-represented group or background. That journey began over 20 years ago with initiatives including F1 In Schools and Formula Student seeking to motivate children of school age as well as undergraduates from every background to consider a career in Formula One.
The Formula 1 Academy , launched in 2023, is developing female talent across the sport, whether as future F1 drivers, engineers or management, The sport’s governing body, the FIA, operates the FIA Girls on Track programme, again providing young women and girls from around the world with opportunities across motorsport. Individual Formula 1 team are also running important, game-changing initiatives, including Mercedes F1’s ‘Accelerate ‘25’ programme which aims to ensure that 25% of all new employees are selected from under-represented cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
Seven times World Champion Lewis Hamilton, the first black driver to compete in Formula 1, has worked with Mercedes to creative mentorship and educational programmes for girls’ schools in the London borough of Tower Hamlets. Hamilton’s Mission 44 organization has set about driving structural change with motorsport to ensure that anyone of colour can develop career opportunities in Formula 1. Meanwhile Race Pride charity has attracted widespread support from Formula 1 and its constituent teams, supporting the LGBTQIA+ community across the industry.