Most recently employed as Head of Race Strategy at Aston Martin F1 team, Bernie has 13 years experience working within the Formula One industry. She has travelled to or supported F1 races over a period of 9 seasons across strategy and performance engineering functions. Her first F1 experience was gained at McLaren Racing from 2009-2015, firstly as a Graduate Engineer then Design Engineer, before becoming Performance Engineer and working with drivers such as 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button in 2014. During this time Bernie was selected as one of the '30 under 30' young rising stars of maunfacturing for the "Make it in Great Britain campaign and named in The Manufacturer "Top 100 UK Role Models".
Joining Force India in 2015, which became Racing Point and then Aston Martin F1, Bernie’s role saw her lead race strategy decisions from the pitwall, balancing the information flow from the drivers, engineers and support team back at the factory in Silverstone,which resulted in a famous victory for Sergio Perez in Bahrain in 2020.
Leaving the grid full time in 2022, alongside being one of Ignition Human Performance's Motorsport Speakers and working with a range of our clients, this season Bernie has joined the Sky Sports F1 team to add her race strategy knowledge and experience to their presenter & punditry line up.
Nick Butcher: Hi Bernie, it is great to see you. We have been working together over the past few months since you joined our Motorsport Speakers roster, but tell me how did you end up working in Motorsport?
Bernie Collins: Thank you Nick. It’s great to speak to you too and be part of the Motorsport Speakers roster. How did I get into motorsport? Well I didn’t necessarily set out to join motorsport but I really enjoyed Mathematics and Physics at school so began a Mechanical Engineering degree at university. During this time I took part in the IMechE formula student program which was my first taste of motorsport. From there the opportunity to join McLaren Racing as part of their graduate scheme lead me to motorsport from then onwards.
NB: How did you approach developing race strategies in Formula One, and what were some of the key considerations that you had to take into account?
BC: Strategy in F1 is lots of planning and situation awareness so you begin by, with the help of other engineering functions, building a tyre model and calculating what the fastest race would be in free air (with no other cars to consider). Then you begin to look at specifics for that event for example the effect of traffic or safety car risks or weather conditions and then plan likely races. The model has lots of inputs and the ideal is to be as confident as possible in the accuracy of each of those inputs. As well as the strategy for the race, the strategy department will also contribute to the planning of practice sessions to target which questions or aspects of our model are we most unsure about that we would like to focus on learning.
NB: What are some of the most important lessons that you learned in your time as a Formula One race strategist, and how do you think those lessons could be applied to personal and business performance?
BC: One aspect that I was always personally very focused on was analysis both of good and bad results or in the results of competitors from any decision they have made. This desire to improve even from good results is very important to business I feel.
NB: In your opinion, what are some of the most important skills or qualities that are needed to succeed in the world of Formula One, and how can those skills be translated to other areas of life or business?
BC: Formula One involves a very clearly defined singular goal with everyone in the team selflessly working towards it. We need to operate well as a team and trust other elements to complete their step in the process. There simply isn’t time to repeat calculations or analysis. This allows experts to be trusted in their own field and decisions to be made quickly. Any business that can utilise these elements will become more efficient in the long term and encourage younger staff.
NB: How do you think technology has changed the way race strategy is developed and executed in Formula One, and what lessons can be learned from this for other industries?
BC: Technology and software has allowed the information that strategists have available quickly to multiple significantly. Rather than the 3 sector times a lap from a few years ago now laps of competitors can be broken into many mini segments and analysed using GPS. It means that we have much more information on our competitors. Data has became the centre piece of every decision and fast accurate analysis is key. Companies that can successfully analyse data without being prejudice to the expected answer will succeed.
NB: What advice would you give to someone who is looking to improve their performance, either in a personal or professional context, based on what you have learned from your time in Formula One?
BC: In Formula One it always feels like the scope for improvement is endless and impossible to complete so over the years I have become better at identifying the improvements that have capacity for the greatest gains.
NB: Communication is key in any role or business, but in particular, the communication between the pit wall and the driver is the key between success and failure. With all the information going on in a race how do you decide what to communicate and what not to communicate?
BC: Formula One information transfer is key with many voices involved. Again it goes back to what is the most useful information or what is going to bring the biggest gains.
NB: What are the 3 behaviours from a team or driver that you insist on when unlocking performance?
BC: Common joint goal, Open communication & Psychological safety for all
NB: What is the best high-performance behaviour you have ever observed in someone else that you have either taken on yourself or wished you could do?
BC: Checo was one of the best people I know at moving on quickly after a disappointing session or lap etc. Literally after a poor qualifying he would be in the office asking about the race plan. It always took me a bit longer to recover from a poor session.
NB: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
BC: Always ask "why?". Keep asking till you get the right answer. Never stop at the first one.
NB: What is your favourite motorsport memory?
BC: I think my only race win in Bahrain is very special. We executed the race very well and adapted quickly to changes. With Checo’s future in doubt it was a brilliant way to leave the team.
NB: Since leaving Aston Martin F1, as well as joining our Motorsport Speakers roster, you have also started working with Sky Sports on their F1 coverage. Has it been strange being on the other side of the pit wall?
BC: Yes it has been a really interesting experience so far with Sky. I wasn’t really aware before of what was required to produce a show. I’ve learnt a very different aspect of the same industry and hopefully helped to educate others.
NB: Live television is another high-performance environment, what lessons have you learnt whilst doing this?
BC: I’m still learning!
NB: In your opinion, what one area from motorsport can business learn the most from?
BC: The biggest learning for me is that the decisions made on race day are irreversible so everything most go into making the correct decision in the first place.
NB: As mentioned before, you joined our Motorsport Speakers roster in 2022, how can our clients and partners benefit from your experience and knowledge if they are looking for you to join them at their next business conference or training event?
BC: I think Formula One and the fast paced decisions made on the pit wall are easy to transfer to other industries. Working through some real examples and stories from my time there brings home the possible lessons to be learned.
NB: Thank you so much for your time today Bernie, and I’m sure everyone reading this will agree your experience and knowledge from Formula One is extremely valuable for anyone looking to unlock their own performance.
Below is a clip of Bernie in action on Sky Sports F1
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