UK team crowned Aramco F1 in Schools champions at World Finals

The UK claimed the Aramco F1® in Schools World Champions 2020(21) title this week, with Britannia Red, a team of six 16 and 17-year-old students from Robert May’s School, Hampshire, being announced the winners at Tuesday’s Awards celebrations.

The talented youngsters narrowly beat 42 other teams from 18 countries, with Quintolux from Ireland in second place. Nebula from Australia completed the 1-2-3 with third place.

Student teams from around the globe took on their international rivals in the biggest global STEM educational initiative. They designed and developed a scale model F1® in Schools car with advanced engineering, produced a highly creative and instructive presentation of their team and built a car that has the speed to compete with the best of the world.

WATCH: The inspiring journey from F1 in Schools participant to McLaren graduate

The Zoom-powered Awards Show, with online attendance by the teams, teachers, families and friends, dignitaries and key Formula 1 personnel, celebrated the achievements of the F1® in Schools World Finalists, with the future engineers and professionals of the Formula 1 industry having worked tirelessly in pursuit of the ultimate prize - to be crowned World Champion and win valuable University scholarships from UCL Engineering, London.

Britannia Red impressed the judges with the quality of their work with the team excelling in many areas of the competition, with a superbly designed and engineered car, the team creating an engaging, professional presentation, showing innovation and a depth of STEM understanding far beyond their years.

They also collected the Best Engineered Car and Verbal Presentation Awards on their way to the ultimate victory, with Amelia Doward, Team Manager, 16; Callum Green, 16; Zachary Taylor, 17; Edward Hodgson, 17; Caolmhe Thomas, 16; and Abigail Bessant, 16, delighted with their achievements.

“It’s always been our aim to be world champions, says Amelia. “We’ve be a team for three years and we’ve been working hard towards it but I don’t think we ever envisaged this happening. There were so many strong teams this year, we really didn’t expect it. We’ve put in thousands of hours for this, we’ve lost all of our social life and maybe we can have some sleep well now, but it was so worth it.”

Messages of congratulations from Formula 1 drivers were well received by all the students with 20 awards being presented during the event. Formula 1® President & CEO Stefano Domenicali announced the World Champions saying: "Formula 1 is really believing in this project in its entirety.

"It's been a great moment to share this intensity and when I saw all the boys and girls really so excited about what they are doing, it reminds us of who we are and this responsibility needs to be shared with the world and I will do this at the next Grand Prix."

Andrew Denford, founder and chairman of F1 in Schools, said: “I would like to congratulate every student in every team for all the work that they have put into the competition, in one of the most challenging years that we’ve all had to endure.

"We’ve met some very talented students and it was a very close competition, with Britannia Red just outperforming their rivals, they were just superb, huge congratulations to them.

“We had three very exciting days of competition including plenty of close racing, with the passion of the students shining through in all the judged sessions. I know that all the students will have had an amazing Aramco F1® in Schools World Finals 2020(21).”

The Aramco F1 in Schools World Finals is held with the support of a host of sponsors including Formula 1®, Aramco, Zoom, Autodesk, Denford, FIA Women in Motorsport, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, UCL Engineering and FIA Action for Road Safety.

Click here to find out more, and for the full list of award winners.