Akiko_Why

[Ruth Buscombe @RuthBuscombe]

“Do you ever miss being on the pit wall?”

I’ve been asked that question more times than I can count.

My answer has always been:

Yes… but no.

This weekend, Formula 1, F1 TV, AWS and Globant gave me a pit wall seat I never saw coming.

It made me reflect on the biggest career decision I’ve ever made.

People often ask whether I’d ever go back to a Formula 1 team.

The truth is, I never left because I’d stopped loving strategy. I left because I wanted the opportunity to fight for race wins and World Championships. After years of waiting for that chance, I realised I couldn’t spend my life hoping someone else would eventually give me that opportunity. So I stopped waiting and chose a different path.

The moment I stepped off the pit wall in 2023, I made peace with the trade off.

That was the cost of moving forwards.

I thought I was giving up the chance to ever sit on a Formula 1 pit wall again.

What I couldn’t possibly have imagined was everything I’d gain instead.

I never imagined I’d get to call strategy at the Indianapolis 500, losing it once by two corners before winning it back to back.

Or spend 24 hours fighting for every second in endurance racing, feeling completely awake at 3am, experiencing the highest highs and the lowest lows, and losing by just 1.9 seconds after an entire day of racing.

I never imagined I’d work across IndyCar, IMSA, NASCAR, WEC and iRacing, chasing what I jokingly call the Strategy Triple Crown.

I never imagined I’d work on the F1 movie alongside Brad Pitt and be at a Premiere, through Strategy!

Or speak on keynote stages across six continents, sharing ideas about strategy with audiences from the Olympic movement to Wall Street.

And I certainly never imagined I’d get the privilege of bringing Formula 1 strategy to millions of fans around the world through F1 TV.

Most importantly, I never imagined the extraordinary people I’d meet. People from motorsport, technology, finance and so many other worlds who completely changed the way I think about strategy, leadership and high performance.

Professionally, I’m happier than I ever imagined.

Personally, I’m happier too.

I’d made peace with the trade off long before I knew how extraordinary the upside would become.

Then Sunday happened.

For a few hours I found myself doing exactly what I’d always loved.

Not watching Kimi Antonelli’s race.

Looking for ways he could win it.

Every projection kept bringing me back to the same answer.

If Mercedes wanted to win, they had to commit to the one stop.

When they did, instead of protecting the safe result, I felt exactly the same rush I used to feel sitting on a Formula 1 pit wall.

Then the Virtual Safety Car came.

A championship contender rolled past me in the pit lane.

A familiar double gut punch.

And in that moment, as I gathered myself to calmly give the next race situation update on the other end of my radio panel, I realised something.

It felt like coming home.

Just as a better version of myself.

Ironically, if I ever did go back to Formula 1, I’d go back a better strategist than when I left. Not because I forgot what Formula 1 taught me, but because of everything it allowed me to learn afterwards, in other championships, with AI, with technology, and with people outside motorsport.

If you’ve made it this far, I guess the point I’m trying to make is this.

The dream you have at 22 doesn’t have to be the same dream you have at 36.

Sometimes it grows.

Sometimes it changes.

Sometimes the thing you think you’re giving up leads you somewhere you could never have imagined.

Three years ago, if you’d asked whether I’d give all of this up for another shot at a championship winning Formula 1 pit wall, I’d have answered immediately.

Today…

I’m not so sure.

And I think that’s a pretty wonderful place to be.

Thank you to everyone at Formula 1, @F1 TV, @awscloud and @Globant for making this happen.

And, Dear Pitwall, I will see you soon after a little Shutdown. 😉

[Akiko_Why @why_akiko]

@SCUDERIAFEMBOY Will Buxton moved to indycar, of course the news was gonna be about indycar🙄

[Akiko_Why @why_akiko]

@MV33Racing I just don’t think Max wants to leave redbull, seeing how they are at the front and are improving. I think Max is going to stay, he’s said he wishes he would end his career at redbull

[Akiko_Why @why_akiko]

@RBR_Daily It’s gotta be for passing leclerc no?

[Suzie rizzio @Suzierizzo1]

Stop trying to hide what really happened and release the Epstein Files because nobody is going to forget about them.

[Akiko_Why @why_akiko]

Just slammed a 4 egger. Pretty valid ngl @EliLikesRice

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden began his visit to Ukraine by honoring our fallen warriors together with me. We are deeply grateful for this gesture of respect.

The memory of each and every one of them is very important to us – the defenders of Ukraine who fought against Russian aggression. They fought not only for our country, but also for the protection of all of Europe, so that Russian madness and killing would not spread further.

Eternal memory to our fallen heroes!

[The Hidden One @TheHiddenOneAC]

Ah fuck it, let's do a giveaway for 2 copies of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced for no reason at all.

All you gotta do:
1. Follow @TheHiddenOneAC
2. Like and retweet

I'll randomly pick 3 winners on July 1st, 2026. Same giveaway tool I always use, and I'll record proof. 🎉

[Akiko_Why @why_akiko]

@_ApexStatus @theAllianceGG Held by whom?

[ALUTHEDON @Mbakaza4L]

Here’s a video of five Isreal soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee. The charges were dropped today sick society.

[Israel Exposed @xIsraelExposedx]

Israelis throwing kittens off rooftops after they took over a Palestinian home and found their pets. Freaks.

[Akiko_Why @why_akiko]

@maxsredbull I think the steering was a bit broken, he complained about it earlier in the weekend and said that something was broken again after he pitted behind Lindblad

[ab @itgirlab]

i have ZERO fucking sympathy for israel. ZERO.

[Pakistan Tourism @PakistanJannatt]

If you hate #Israel please retweet.

[Tired Peasant @HorrorGorl]

Palestinians go through this on the daily

[SO? @noor_supernova7]

If you hate israel, repost this.

I want to test something.

[Anthony Doyle🍉 @Anthonysmdoyle]

You get called antisemitic in the West for even saying Israel is doing war crimes while on Israeli TV they say this stuff regularly.

[Dr.Hamza Alsharif 🇵🇸 @Hamzasharif5750]

If you hate israel, repost this.

I want to test something.

[JerryRigEverything @ZacksJerryRig]

Israel is a terrorist state. Pass it on.

[The Resonance @Partisan_12]

Israel did it in 1948

Israel did it in 1956

Israel did it in 1967

Israel did it in 1982

Israel did it in 2002

Israel did it in 2008

Israel did it in 2014

Israel did it in 2021

Israel is currently doing it in 2023-26

78 years of genocide, but Israel is the victim!