INWED 2023: Exclusive Q&A with Rosie Wait

To celebrate and mark International Women in Engineering Day, we asked our fans across social media to send in their questions for Rosie Wait, our Head of Race Strategy.

In this exclusive Q&A, Rosie talks through her career journey, strategy, advice for aspiring engineers and much more.

@Kimi Ba: As the culture of motor racing develops, F1 has been gaining more and more females followers, who also have interests working in relevant roles in the future. From your experience, how did you come through the ladder from school to engineering and then to F1? What advice would you give to the younger generation?

Rosie Wait: “I totally agree that we are seeing a transformation in motorsport and how many females are getting involved in all areas, which is great to be part of. At school I was very focused on studying the subjects I enjoyed, which was primarily Maths and Physics. This led me to an Engineering degree at university after which I moved into F1 in the Vehicle Dynamics department at McLaren.

“My advice to the younger generation would be to not get too hung up on the exact job you want, too early. Instead focus on learning what you enjoy doing, what you are good at and what is important to you. Once you have a clear idea of these three things, then you can find a job that matches you rather than trying to fit yourself into the job you think you want.”

Christine Smyrnios: Hi Rosie, since a lot can happen from the beginning to the end of a race, how demanding or stressful is it to adjust the strategy according to each unexpected incident?

RW: “Hi Christine, thanks for your question. Before each race we spend a long time exploring lots of potential scenarios that could happen and planning the best way to respond to them. This means that usually the key in the race is identifying when we need to switch from one plan to another. Sometimes what might seem like a really demanding race with lots happening is actually not so tricky, because it is one of the scenarios we planned for. On the other hand, you can never plan for everything, so there are plenty of races where the adrenaline is flowing while we evaluate the data and make decisions minute by minute.”

@JackieF1nut: Hey Rosie - thanks for this opportunity. How many people do you have working on strategy in your team? And how are the tasks and activities allocated?

RW: “Hi Jackie, thank you for your question. My team is around 10 people however we cover much more than just race strategy. We also build and develop software tools, write simulations, carry out competitor analysis, and get involved in many other data science projects throughout the team.”

@frantajankovic: Which track is the most difficult to make a strategy?

RW: “It may sound weird, but I would say Monaco is the more difficult race for a strategist. Overtaking is so difficult and there are often many incidents so timing your (probably only one) pitstop perfectly is crucial, but without a crystal ball there is quite a large element of gambling involved in this. Once you have made your one decision in the race, all you can do is sit back and nervously wait to see if it will work out.

“On the other hand, high degradation races such as Bahrain can also be very difficult because they are so busy and so there is very little time between each decision point to analyse the data coming in. I find these races more fun though and each decision is less critical when there are more of them in total during the race.”

Focus on learning what you enjoy doing, what you are good at and what is important to you.

Rosie Wait

@7BD273: What has working with George been like? He seems like a driver who's very alert, collected and focused when it comes to strategy.

RW: “Working with George is a lot of fun – he is a very quick racing driver and, as you said, he is also very focused and interested in the details. This means we can get into quite detailed discussions before the race and he reads the race well, which helps everyone remain calm even when events go against us. For example, in Melbourne when we pitted under the Safety Car, only to lose out when the Red Flag came out. George was able to immediately understand why we did what we did, even though it didn’t work out for him, and then focus on making the best of the situation.”

Jessica Atkey: Hi Rosie, fantastic work every weekend getting the most out of the car with the team. My question for you would be; What do you think can be done to encourage women into the sport? Work wise and fan base wise.

RW: “Hi Jessica, thanks it is a big team effort. I think work wise, we are seeing a lot more women joining the team in all departments which is encouraging compared to 10 years ago but there is still a way to go, particularly in the more senior roles. I think this is important to give the more junior women the confidence that F1 can be a viable long-term career for them.

“In terms of the fan base, I am certainly not an expert, but I think the sport has done well to bring in more female commentators and analysts, such as Naomi Schiff and Bernie Collins, and has challenged and removed some of the less appropriate historic elements which projected the wrong image.”

Beth Newiss: My 13-year-old daughter would like to know… how did you get into this industry?

RW: “Hi Beth’s daughter! I got into the industry directly from university. I studied Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics at A-Level and then studied General Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Whilst there I managed to arrange a three-month summer internship at McLaren between my third and fourth years and after completing my final year, I was lucky enough to get a full-time job there.

“Summer placements are quite rare now but nearly all teams have a wide range of industrial placements – usually this means students spending a year working for a team before their final year at university – and this can be a great opportunity to gain direct experience of the industry ahead of applying for graduate roles in F1.”

Mary Bates: Hi Rosie, as someone aspiring to work in the F1 industry, I greatly admire your achievements. Considering your experience in breaking into a male-dominated field, I would like to ask: If you could offer one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

RW: “Hi Mary, this is an important question, thank you for asking it. I think the advice I would give my younger self is to not get too hung up worrying about the future and instead focus on making the most of each step along the way. Focusing on what you enjoy, what you are good at and what is important to you is far more valuable.

“In terms of getting the technical skills to do the jobs I have done, focus on trying to learn lots of theory and keeping your skills broad for as long as possible. I studied a general engineering course, and this gave me a strong and broad understanding which I quickly learned how to apply to the world of motorsport.”

@shari_X44 - Hi Rosie! What made you want to work as a strategist?

RW: “Hi Shari. It wasn’t until around six months before I became a strategist that I decided that was what I wanted to do next. I have never been very good at making plans, and so I never had clear career aspirations. Instead, at each stage in my life I have focused on following what I enjoy and seen where that has taken me. With some hard work and a lot of luck that led to F1.

“Once I was working in F1 I realised that the perfect role for me was something where I could be really involved at the sharp end of racing whilst also being able to spend time indulging my more mathematical side writing simulations and developing software tools. Strategy is a role where you get to do both things so that is why I decided to make the move and I haven’t looked back since.”

We are seeing a lot more women joining the team in all departments which is encouraging, but there is still a way to go.

Rosie Wait

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