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 graduate of the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering, Buscombe 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. Buscombe 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.

Buscombe played a key role in the race winning tactics which secured Sebastian Vettel’s first win with Ferrari in the 2015 Malaysia Grand Prix. Buscombe 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. Buscombe 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.

Buscombe 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 Buscombe 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.