Bernie Collins Keynote Speaker

Head of Race Strategy, Aston Martin F1 (2020–2022)
Author, 'How to Win a Grand Prix' ( 2024)
Honorary Doctorate, Queen’s University Belfast (2023)

Bernie Collins's Biography

Bernie Collins is a leading Formula 1 race strategist and broadcaster whose clear, real-time analysis on Sky Sports F1 and F1TV brings the paddock’s most complex decisions to life.

As Head of Race Strategy at Aston Martin (2020–2022), she directed split-second calls on tyres, pit windows and risk—translating uncertainty into points under the brightest spotlight in sport. Her keynotes unpack that high-pressure toolkit for leaders navigating volatility, data overload and rapid change.

An engineer by training, Bernie graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 2009 and began her career with McLaren, progressing to performance engineer for 2009 World Champion Jenson Button. She joined Force India in 2015, contributing to podium results and the team’s fourth place in the 2016 Constructors’ Championship—an early demonstration of her calm, numbers-led approach to competitive advantage.

Recognised by Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe (Manufacturing & Industry) in 2016 and awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Queen’s University Belfast in 2023, Bernie combines elite sport credentials with public impact. In 2024, she published How to Win a Grand Prix: From Pit Lane to Podium with Quercus, lifting the lid on how F1 teams turn marginal gains into results. In 2025, she continues to provide strategy insights for Sky’s coverage, decoding regulations, tactics and data for global audiences.

Bernie delivers crisp, practical takeaways: how to make better calls with imperfect data; how to align multi-disciplinary teams when seconds matter; and how to build resilience in relentless calendars and markets. Accessible and authoritative, she equips audiences with a strategist’s mindset—clarity under pressure, disciplined communication and continuous improvement.

Decision-making under pressure: the strategist’s playbook

Data to advantage: turning signals into winning choices

Pit-wall leadership: roles, comms and rapid alignment

Strategy, risk and scenario planning for volatile markets

Inclusion & pathways: lessons for women in engineering and sport

She brings frontline decision-making authority as former Head of Race Strategy at Aston Martin, translating split-second calls on tyres, pit windows and risk into tools leaders can use under pressure.
She decodes complex, fast-moving strategy in real time for Sky Sports F1 and F1TV, showing organisations how to make confident decisions amid data overload and uncertainty.
She helped deliver podium results with Force India and contributed to the team’s fourth place in the 2016 Constructors’ Championship, turning marginal gains and team alignment into competitive advantage.
She is an engineer trained at McLaren and a former performance engineer to 2009 World Champion Jenson Button, bringing a numbers-led approach to performance that audiences can apply immediately.
She is the author of How to Win a Grand Prix (2024), giving executives a clear playbook for communication, resilience and continuous improvement when the pace never slows.