Ruth Buscombe

Biography

Buscombe was raised in London's East End by two doctors. She attended Forest School in Walthamstow, where she loved maths and solving problems. Her teachers tried to steer her away from engineering, questioning why she wanted to enter a field dominated by men. When she was 18, she survived a serious car crash.

She went on to study Aerospace and Aerothermal Engineering at Cambridge University. For her master's thesis, she looked at how the drag reduction system works as an overtaking aid, working with motorsport's governing body, the FIA, under former Jaguar team boss Tony Purnell and alongside F1 race director Charlie Whiting. She earned a first-class degree in 2012. Right after graduating, she joined Ferrari as a simulation development engineer, writing and improving algorithms.

In March 2013, Ferrari promoted her to race strategist at their Maranello base, where she handled strategy from the factory's remote garage for Felipe Massa and later Kimi Räikkönen. She stayed with Ferrari until the end of 2015, then moved in November to Haas F1, a brand-new team, as their strategy engineer. This role put her at the track and on the pitwall. In February 2016, she became part of the Dare to be Different campaign.