F1 in Schools - National Finals
Robert May's School returned to the F1 area last week, competing in the 2025 National Finals. In January, both of our teams topped the podium in the Regional Finals despite both being new teams to their divisions and also very young - this is a competition for 14-19 year olds.
At the National Finals, held at the Magna Science and Adventure Centre, Rotherham there were 60 teams split across the two divisions Development Class and Professional Class. Our older Year 10 team, Atomic, performed brilliantly across this multidisciplinary STEM challenge. During the two days their two identical cars raced eight times. These cars represented over 500 hours of labour and had to meet exacting standards before hitting the race track. The team also performed a formal presentation and took part in a series of searching interviews, during which they walked the judges through their portfolios and pit display. This was their first year and, though they didn't win, it looks like they have placed 5th or 6th - out of thirty teams that are mostly older and more experienced, they did brilliantly. Roll on 2026.
Our younger Year 9 team did a little better. After taking part in exactly the same events as the older Professional Class teams, Echo, from Robert May's School, had the fastest car of the two days. They also won the prestigious Verbal Presentation award, scoring 158/160, beating all the other teams by over 30 points. A big hand must go to their secret weapon, Mr. Lambert, who was brought in to help train and hone their presentation skills. The only thing left was the podium and all scores were kept secret until this moment so, as the 3rd and 2nd place winners were announced, Echo got a little nervous to say the least. They topped the podium and are now the UK Champions Development Class 2025 and because of this they have been invited to represent our school and country at the 2025 World Finals being held in Singapore at the end of September.
