Thirty teams will line up on the grid for the F1 in Schools National Finals at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham this week. Each team of students has won through from 10 regional heats to secure their place at this prestigious event, with the ultimate prize of university scholarships for the overall World Champions.

 The Formula One in Schools Technology Challenge is a global competition taking place in over 30 countries. The 2009/10 UK final will be hotly contested by some of the best young budding engineers from schools around the country, with each team presenting and racing their unique design of a scale model race car of the future. The stakes are high for the students, not only for the pride of representing their school in this prestigious competition, but also for the accolade of being crowned F1 in Schools champion which brings with it the opportunity to compete internationally for the Bernie Ecclestone trophy and scholarships to City University, London.

The regional heats held late last year proved highly competitive. The highlight of the regional and national finals is the time trials, with the teams racing their own car on a specially designed 20 metre track to test the speed of each F1 model. Powered by compressed air, the cars are fired down the track at a scale speed equivalent to over 220 mph. With the world record standing at just over one second, it’s fast and furious action on the race track for these engineering protégés.

The national finalist team with the fastest race car at the regional events was Wipeout from Westhoughton School in Bolton, with their F1 race car of the future hurtling down the 20 metres F1 in Schools test track at a speed of 1.137 seconds. The other finalists will be refining their designs and looking for outstanding performance to beat this time at the weekend.

The students will also be presenting their portfolio of work detailing the background to their design and explaining their R & D work to a panel of judges. Each team will have a pit area and there will be fierce competition to stand out from the crowd, not only with an attractive and informative display, but also with a co-ordinated team presentation.

This unique student challenge is the largest global educational initiative. The students use CAD/CAM software to design, build and test a model compressed air powered balsa wood F1 car of the future and it takes place in over 30 countries around the world, with over 15million school children aware of the challenge.

The F1 in Schools UK  National Final takes place at Autosport International Show, Birmingham NEC, from 16th – 17th January 2010. The UK champions will be crowned at the awards ceremony which begins at 3pm on Sunday 17th January

2009/2010F1 in Schools UK National Final

Team Name               School

Flash F1                                  The Hermitage School, Chester-le-Street

Flare                                        St. Dunstan's Community School, Glastonbury

Bloodhounds                           Castleford High School, Castleford, West Yorkshire

Team Zenith                            Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School, Beddau, Pontypridd

Carbon FibreZ                         St. Bede's Catholic Comprehensive School, Peterlee

Speeding Snails                      Wilmington Grammar School, Dartford

Blink And You'll Miss Us          Harris Academy, Dundee

Team Electro                          Lochgelly High School, Scotland,

Hot Rods                                 Richard Rose Morton Academy, Carlisle

Bradfield Cobras                     Bradfield School, Sheffield

Pressure Point                        Neale-Wade Community College, March, Cambridgeshire

Blazing Magnezium                Welshpool High School, Welshpool

PBM                                        Ysgol Glanymor School, Pwlhelli, Gwynedd

BCS Racing                            Barry Comprehensive School, Barry, South Wales

Drop Dead Gorgeous             Selly Park Technology College, Birmingham

Exceleration                            Fife Young Engineers, Fife

Incendia                                   Robert May's School, Odiham, Hampshire

Pluto                                        Open Opportunities, Norwich

Mach1                                     Lutterworth College, Lutterworth, Leicestershire

Ridgewood Racers                 Ridgewood School, Scawsby, Doncaster

Scintilla                                    Ribblesdale Technology College, Clitheroe

Synergy                                   Richard Rose Central Academy, Carlisle

Osprey F1                               Connah's Quay High School, Deeside

Dynamic                                  St. John Payne School, Chelmsford, Essex

Fflam                                       Ysgol Botwnnog, Pwlhelli, Gwynedd, South Wales

GB Dynamics                         Eggbuckland Community College, Plymouth

Team Memphis                       St. Dunstan's Community School, Glastonbury

Wipeout                                   Westhoughton High School, Bolton

Zeiges Racing                         Regent House Grammar School, Newtonards, N. Ireland

Team Carbon                          Regent House Grammar School, Newtonards, N. Ireland