Quick Facts
Biography
Ruth Buscombe is a British strategy engineer for the Sauber Formula One team. A first class honours graduate of the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering, she began working in Formula One with Scuderia Ferrari at the team's headquarters in 2012 as a race strategist, and later moved to Haas in November 2015. Buscombe operated as the team's strategy engineer and helped them achieve a strong start to the 2016 season. She left in June and was employed by Sauber three months later, helping the team to finish ahead of Manor Racing in the Constructors' Championship. Buscombe is an ambassador for Dare to be Different.
Biography
Early life and education
Buscombe describes her childhood as going from "wanting to be a princess, to being an astronaut to wanting to be in F1", having garnered an interest in the sport at the age of eleven. She was educated at Forest School, Walthamstow. Buscombe's teachers attempted to discourage her from working in engineering because they questioned her career choice. At age 18, she narrowly avoided being killed in a road accident. Buscombe went to the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering and studied 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, with supervision from former Jaguar team principal Tony Purnell. Buscombe graduated with a first class honours degree in 2012.
Career
Immediately after graduation, Buscombe entered Formula One by joining the Scuderia Ferrari team in 2012 as a simulation development engineer where she developed and implemented algorithms. She was promoted to the role of a race strategist in March 2013 and worked at the team's headquarters in Maranello. There, Buscombe oversaw the strategic decisions for driver Felipe Massa and later Kimi Räikkönen from the factory's remote garage. She remained with Ferrari throughout 2015 before leaving at the end of the season to join first-year team Haas F1 in November as their strategy engineer. Buscombe was now working at the tracks and on the pitwall. She joined the Dare to be Different campaign in February 2016.
Buscombe's influence in team strategy was immediately felt as lead driver Romain Grosjean achieved two consecutive top six finishes in the season's opening races in Australia and Bahrain. However, she left the team in June amid speculation of a disagreement. Following its purchase by Longbow Finance the following month, Sauber employed several new personnel as part of a recruitment drive with Buscombe being hired by the team in September and started her new job at the Malaysian Grand Prix. She formulated a strategy that allowed Felipe Nasr to finish ninth in the Brazilian race and enabled Sauber to clinch tenth in the Constructors' Championship ahead of Manor Racing.