Pupils are at front of grid for F1 in Schools

The six-strong team of pupils came second in the regional final of the F1 in Schools competition at Aston University this month - narrowly missing out on having the fastest model car by 0.005 seconds.

They are now through to the national event at the Excel Arena in London on March 15 and 16.

Teacher Bob Hodge said: “The team have been working hard on their entry for more than six months and have drawn extensively on local expertise.

“They were able to use the wind tunnel at Coventry University to optimise the car’s aerodynamics and demonstrate that it was going to be really fast, reaching at least 50mph at the end of the 20 metre track.

“Warwick University kindly made the axle and aerofoils on their state of the art 3D printing facility and the wheels were made to the team’s specifications by a local engineering company, Finescale Engineering.”

F1 in Schools is a competition that promotes the use of computer design and manufacture in a school environment.

It involves teams of up to six students who design, build and then race a model F1 car.

It is a worldwide event that has the support of Bernie Ecclestone, and teams from over 26 countries take part.

Last year North Leamington’s Whittle Wonders team won the Rookie Class Award at the national finals.

The team, who had already won three awards for innovative thinking, fastest car and best rookie team at the Central Regional Final were presented with a trophy and tickets to the British Grand Prix.

Harrison Catering, Leamington Round Table, Top Car News and NLS Cinema have sponsored the team this year.