Strategy, pressure and presentation: Bernadette Collins reflects on her ground-breaking F1 journey

Bernadette “Bernie” Collins is a Northern Irish mechanical engineer and celebrated Formula One strategist whose remarkable journey has taken her from dismantling farmyard machinery in County Fermanagh to commanding the race strategy at Aston Martin F1, before becoming a familiar expert voice on Sky Sports F1 and F1TV.

As a Sports Presenters speaker, she now brings her tactical expertise and broadcasting skills to audiences worldwide.

Known for her ground-breaking analytic work as Head of Race Strategy, Bernie helped propel mid-tier teams to podium finishes before transitioning into media in 2023 to explain the tactical complexity of Grands Prix to fans worldwide.

Her first book, How to Win a Grand Prix, debuted as a Sunday Times bestseller in 2024, cementing her as a strategic thinker with broad appeal.

In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Bernie explores the parallels between high-performance sport and leadership, revealing how preparation, analysis, and composure under pressure can elevate teams and individuals – on the track and in the boardroom.

Q: As Aston Martin F1’s former Head of Race Strategy, what key lessons did you learn about devising strategies that consistently deliver results?

Bernie Collins: “Yeah, I think it’s really interesting in that when you’re devising the strategy for a race, there are lots of different aspects. There’s the individual race as it is, but then there’s the more global full-weekend strategy or the more individual sections that lead off to that race. So there’s lots of split in terms of what you’re trying to achieve.

“I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned is that having an entire team behind you all aiming for a singular goal is really interesting, you know, a really good way of working. But also, we spent a lot of our time – most of our time – looking at what-if scenarios.

“So not necessarily planning for the best case, but always planning for all of the other alternatives, looking at what’s happened historically, looking at what other teams have done in the race before, trying to really dive into the detail that’s needed.

“I would say 90% of the prep that we did was never used, because it’s all these edge cases that may not be useful for that race. But that leads to everyone feeling much more prepared and means that when you do have something a little bit off the wall, everyone’s ready for it, or at least there’s a slight plan in place for it.

“People like, let’s say, the really boring one-stop strategies where there’s one pit stop and then thirty laps of nothing. But every lap we’re discussing the what-ifs, we’re continuously redoing the plans.

“So although we’ve only made one pit stop, we make hundreds of decisions throughout that race. Again, they’re never used, but it’s that momentum of being ready, being prepared, having planned, trying to be in the best possible situation that you can be as a team.”

READ MORE: F1 news: Exclusive interview with trailblazing data engineer and motorsport protégé Nida Anis

Q: Formula One is driven by data. From your experience on the pit wall, what principles of data analysis are most valuable for making the right call under pressure?

BC: “I think there are two aspects to it – the data side and then the communication side. The communication on the pit wall can often be quite frantic. Things are coming in in a hurry; often you’re dealing with two cars, which might have two different problems.

“So again, we start to look at what are the incidents that we’ve had in the past, that we’ve not reacted correctly to, and how could we improve that correction. A lot of our developed procedures for communication have come through stuff that’s happened in the past, learning from that, trying to bring in a better procedure to deal with it.

“Really simple things, like I split up my comments between left and right ears, which doesn’t necessarily apply to business, but it’s a good example of how can we make this communication smoother. It’s really interesting how easily I can then split across cars or across strategies.

“One of the things that we tend to talk about is ‘right information, right time’. We tend to really scrutinise what’s important, when, who needs the information, what can be saved for a debrief, what needs to happen live.

“So there’s a lot of analysis going on, and again, post-analysis after the event – going through, well maybe it didn’t have any repercussions this time, but could it have had, and what can we learn from it.

“The data side is very similar in that we have loads of data, way more than we can handle as humans at any time. So we, again, over time, developed tools.

“Some of the things that we’re dealing with are just laptops or simple calculations – addition and subtraction a lot of the time. But actually, if you can have a tool that does that little bit for you and frees up brain space for something else, then that’s the right approach.

“F1 is very strong in this, as we’re often under-resourced. We don’t have all of the people that you’d want at the time you need them, so you rely on others. Often, the most junior members of the group have a specific role, specific information they’re looking for, and they’re feeding that up to the Chief or whoever it is.

“You have to rely on that information, you have to trust it. We don’t have time for everyone to double-check the answer, so if there’s an error, we run through it later. That means you’re developing junior members of the group as well, in order to really fulfil their role going forward.”

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: How elite athletes stay sharp: Performance coach Bradley Scanes on the psychology of success

Q: Decision-making in F1 often comes down to seconds. What can business leaders learn from the way you and your team handled high-pressure situations?

BC: “Performing under pressure is an interesting one. The F1 environment is very pressurised. You’re making decisions often within 50 to 60 seconds, depending on where an incident is and where the pit lane is, trying to decide whether to stop.

“You’re balancing a lot of data, a lot of comms. A lot of that comes down to preparation. Many of the decisions, you may already have an answer for in your toolbox from previous races.

“The more prepared people can be, the better they can make those decisions under pressure. I’ve always taken time to try and go through those scenarios in advance, and then to analyse the whole session afterwards as well.

“If you made a decision, was it the right one? With perfect hindsight, would you do the same thing again? Removing all the emotion from it. That continuous process means that going forward you do feel stronger to make those decisions under pressure.

“We also have a lot of trust in people. Even those at the bottom feel empowered to speak up and say, ‘I’m not really sure about this,’ or give their opinion if they see something someone at the top has missed. The support’s really there for those types of decisions.

“We don’t have a blame culture, which might sound interesting to those outside. Especially in strategy, once you’ve done a pit stop, it’s easy to say, ‘Oh, that wasn’t the right decision.’

“But what’s important is that you either change the procedure, or change the data you’re looking at, or change the process, so that decision isn’t made again. That’s how the team learns.”

READ NEXT: From Tokyo heartbreak to Paris glory: Olympian Amber Rutter on resilience and peak performance

Q: In moments of crisis, clear communication can be the difference between success and failure. How did you approach communication during those critical situations?

BC: “Like all communication, a crisis just ramps it up. People become more emotional, there may be shouting, but it’s all about still focusing on the ‘right information, right time’.

“The typical example is if it’s starting to rain. That’s normally when people react quickly. You need the right answer, and there may also be another issue with the car, or we may think a different tyre compound is better – but what’s important is deciding whether it’s an intermediate or a wet. That’s what matters right then.

“So it’s about focusing everyone on the immediate task at hand, and not letting people bring in things that aren’t relevant at that moment. Often, you need a leader to step in and say: ‘Everyone, take a second, this is the job right now.’ That strength to speak up and communicate clearly is key.

“We have a lot of protocols – how we discuss things with each other, what the line of information should be, which channel on the intercom we’re speaking on. All of these are designed so that in that moment, there’s a clear, escalated, high-level channel for big decisions.

“Then we have body checks to ensure everyone involved – like the guy at the end of the pit wall calling the car in – is aware.

“The biggest thing people might not realise is that on the pit wall, it’s not very political. There’s a lot of support and teamwork, making sure we reach the right decision together, regardless of where that decision comes from. Businesses could learn from that mentality.”

This exclusive interview with Bernie Collins was conducted by Chris Tompkins of The Motivational Speakers Agency.

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN: Breaking barriers in broadcasting: Charlie Webster on resilience, equality and sport