More than 300 school pupils from schools across southern England faced off in a Formula 1 challenge at the University of Bath last week.

Pupils from 26 primary and secondary schools, aged from nine to 19, took part in the South West regional finals of F1 in Schools, the official education challenge of F1. Held at the University of Bath for the first time, the competition sees students design, build, test and race miniature F1 cars.

The winners of the contest’s top ‘professional’ class were Ceres Racing, from The Crypt School in Gloucester, whose car raced down the 25-metre straight-line track in a blisteringly fast 1.17 seconds.

Ceres Racing Team Principal, Jack Bywater, is 18 and plans to study Motorsports Engineering at university. He said: “It’s a great competition and we’ve learned so much taking part in it. Although the cars are miniature, you can change a lot about their design, and it’s been really interesting to see the approaches other teams have taken.”

Each team’s car is made from an F1 in Schools kit, which contains the materials needed to make the car chassis, along with wheels and axles, which they can then design as they wish. The cars are powered by a CO2 gas canister that fires the vehicle up the track at speeds up to 75 kilometres per hour. As well as the outright racing results, teams are judged by experts and score points for their wider team efforts and for being able to explain their design and manufacturing choices.

A total of 45 teams, from schools in Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Dorset, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Devon and Greater London, took part. University of Bath students, including members of Team Bath Racing Electric, which competes in Formula Student in the UK and Europe, offered the competitors help and advice ahead of the finals.

The event was organised by Dr Samuel Bull, a mechanical engineering lecturer and aerodynamics specialist in Bath’s Faculty of Engineering & Design. He said: “We’re absolutely delighted to host F1 in Schools for the first time. It’s amazing to see so many young people who have put such effort into the contest and shown real interest in learning how to design, manufacture, and race their cars, as well as doing things like raising money and attracting sponsorships.

“We have some fantastic facilities and expertise here at Bath, and it’s great to be able to showcase them to help these young students, many of whom might be visiting a university campus for the first time, as they learn about engineering, design and STEM subjects.”

Bath’s hosting of the event was prompted by Zachary Taylor, a second-year Politics and International Relations student at the University, who won the overall world title in 2023 when he was a pupil at Robert May’s School in Hampshire.

He said: “F1 in Schools changed my life. I took part it in it for five years while at school and learned so much about engineering through making the car, but also about enterprise and earning sponsorships. Although I decided to study politics, I was offered a scholarship to an engineering degree after we won the world championship, so I know how many opportunities the competition can create.”

Tom Milner, Project Director for F1 in Schools, added: “We’re always so pleased to see the culmination of all the effort the teams put into their projects, and all the excitement created by the competition. F1 in Schools is a wonderful way to encourage children to learn about STEM subjects and beyond, either through school projects or extra-curricular clubs.

“We’ve been made very welcome at the University of Bath, and it’s been amazing to see so many students from the University helping out.”

The national F1 in Schools finals are due to take place later this month.