Getting to Know: Ruth Buscombe
Ruth Buscombe was born on December 21, 1989, in Great Britain. She is currently the F1 Race Strategy presenter for F1 TV, after serving as Head of Race Strategy for the Sauber Formula One team. A first-class honors graduate from the University of Cambridge's Department of Engineering, she began her career in Formula One with Scuderia Ferrari in 2012 as a race strategist at their headquarters. In November 2015, Buscombe moved to Haas as the team's strategy engineer. She left Haas in June 2016 and joined Sauber three months later, where she played a key role in helping the team finish ahead of rival Manor Racing in the 2016 Constructors' Championship. Buscombe is also an ambassador for Dare to be Different.
In a 2017 interview with a British newspaper, Buscombe described her childhood ambitions as evolving from "wanting to be a princess, to being an astronaut, to wanting to be in F1," a passion sparked by her interest in motor racing at age 11. She cited Formula One engineers James Allison and Paddy Lowe as her inspirations. Educated at Forest School in Walthamstow, U.K., she particularly enjoyed mathematics for its problem-solving aspects. Despite her teachers' discouragement from pursuing a career in engineering due to the industry's male dominance, Buscombe remained undeterred. At age 18, she narrowly survived a road accident.
Ruth Buscombe on Brazil 2008 after her accident: “I watched it from the hospital. I was hit by a car on Day 3 at university. I was so scared of losing my leg and my degree. I needed a lesson on never giving up. This was it.”
Buscombe went to the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering to study Aerospace and Aerothermal Engineering. Her master's thesis was on the effect of the drag reduction system and was conducted in conjunction with motorsport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), with supervision from former Jaguar team principal Tony Purnell. She graduated with a first-class honors degree in 2012.
After graduating, Buscombe joined the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team in 2012 as a simulation development engineer, where she developed and implemented algorithms. She was promoted to race strategist in March 2013 and worked at Ferrari's headquarters in Maranello.
Buscombe oversaw strategic decisions for drivers Felipe Massa and later Kimi Räikkönen from the factory's remote garage. She played a key role in Sebastian Vettel's first Ferrari victory and remained with the team throughout 2015. At the end of the season, she left Ferrari to join the first-year team Haas F1 in November as their strategy engineer, working at the tracks and on the pit wall. In February 2016, she joined the Dare to be Different campaign.
Buscombe's strategy allowed lead driver Romain Grosjean to claim two successive top-six finishes in the season's first two races in Australia and Bahrain. Following speculation of a disagreement, she left Haas in June 2016. The team was purchased by Longbow Finance the following month, after which Sauber employed several new personnel as part of a recruitment drive. Buscombe was hired by Sauber in September and started her new job at the Malaysian Grand Prix that same year. She formulated a strategy that helped Felipe Nasr finish ninth in the Brazilian race, allowing Sauber to overtake Manor Racing in the Constructors' Championship, a race also known for saving Sauber. She then left her role as a strategy engineer at the Stake F1 Team to join the F1 TV presenters for 2024.
““F1 is changing slower than we would like it to but it has to evolve. We should have the best people, we should be color‑blind and gender-blind to make sure we have the best people.””
She joined the F1 TV lineup in May 2024, making her first appearance during the FP1 session of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix.
Buscombe is an ambassador for Dare to be Different.
Dare to be Different is a nonprofit organization founded in 2016 by former racing driver Susie Wolff and Rob Jones, the CEO of the Motor Sports Association. The organization aims to increase the participation of women in all forms of motor racing and to challenge perceptions of women in traditionally male-dominated industries. Dare to be Different holds events across the United Kingdom, inviting local schoolgirls aged eight to fourteen to participate in motor racing-related activities.
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