Team Carbon, Regent House Grammar School, Northern Ireland

Team Zenith,

Exceleration, Lochgelly High School, Scotland

Dynamic, St. John Payne, Essex

Exceleration, a team from Lochgelly High School in Scotland; the top Welsh team from Ysgol Botwnnog, Fflam; Team Carbon from Regent House Grammar School, Newtownards, Northern Ireland and Dynamic from St. John Payne Catholic Comprehensive School, Chelmsford, Essex, the UK National Champions, will compete at this prestigious event. It will feature over 30 student teams from around the globe competing for the unique Bernie Ecclestone trophy and coveted scholarships to City University, London.

Chairman and Founder of F1 in Schools, Andrew Denford says of the news, “These students can look forward to a once in a lifetime experience at the World Championships. The highlight of last year’s event for many students was meeting Lewis Hamilton when he came along to meet each team and present the winning team’s trophy. This was the icing on the cake for the students after three days of intense pressure competing for the World Championship title, as well as making new friends and seeing the sights of London, which was the venue for 2009.

He continues, “We are combining this year’s World Championships with the Singtel Singapore F1 Grand Prix and we hope that the students will have the chance to experience this fantastic occasion while they are visiting this beautiful country. Formula One provides the inspiration for F1 in Schools and to have a glimpse of the sport, up close, is a very special opportunity for the students.”

The World Championship event pits the national champions against each other, with a panel of judges reviewing the work of each team, from their engineering approach through to marketing strategy, as well as closely scrutinising their cars. One of the key activities for all the students is racing the car against the other school teams in the time trials. While in Singapore the students will also be given a cultural experience, visiting many of the attractions of this Asian island.

F1 in Schools reaches out to more than 15 million students around the world, introducing them to Formula 1 and using its popularity to encourage them to consider science, technology, engineering and mathematics as a career.  Students are given a brief to design a scale model compressed air powered F1 Car of the future using CAD/CAM. Cars are then manufactured on a CNC machine. The cars race on a 20 metre track, covering the distance in just over one second, a speed barrier which is yet to be broken by any student team since it was set by Team FUGA from Northern Ireland at the 2007 World Championships with a time of 1.020 seconds.