SPEEDY pupils from an Erskine school have made it into the national finals of a Formula 1 competition after designing a race car.

A team from Park Mains High School will be competing at the national finals of the F1 in Schools STEM Challenge, which challenges students to prepare business plans, design, analyse, make, test and race a scale model F1 car.

A total of 48 student teams will be competing for the UK Champions title on Monday and Tuesday, and a place at the World Finals later this year.

The Park Mains High team will race their car on the official F1 in Schools 20 metre track, present their business plans, display their engineering designs and showcase their work to a panel of experts.

Andrew Denford, founder and chairman, F1 in Schools, said: “We’ve had an exceptionally strong series of regional finals with outstanding car designs, innovative ideas and highly professional presentations, so I’m very excited to see how they all perform, and I’m sure they will all have raised their game for the National Finals.

“Bringing Formula 1 into the classroom with this programme really inspires the students and nurtures a passion for engineering as well as developing the students’ life skills. 

“They all learn so much, without realising it.”

The UK Champions will win tickets to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July, including exclusive paddock access at the event, an F1 team factory tour, two £5,000 scholarships for UCL Mechanical Engineering and, for the winning school, a F1 branded race track and race control system.

The competition will take place at Airbus’ West Factory in Broughton, Flintshire.