Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button—names that conjure up images of the fast-living, jet-setting multi millionaires living in Monaco and Switzerland, athletes in their prime driving at nearly 300 kilometres per hour inches off the ground, having a fan base so devoted, that they would be lining up for hours for a chance to get a photo or an autograph. They are the new faces of Formula One.
But all the glamour that goes with driving at breakneck speeds comes with a price, a very, very steep price. There are reports that an aspiring driver needs to have at least $30 million in sponsorship to land a seat. Pastor Maldonado is a good example of a talented driver who got the backing of Valenzuela’s national oil firm PDVSA for his Williams F1 seat, something in the region of $50 million in sponsorship. There are numerous stories up and down the grid, of talented drivers who end up losing their seats because of the lack of funding. Heikki Kovaleinen and Kamui Kobayashi are the most recent example.
So, if you are dreaming of getting into Formula One, but lack the driving skills or a big name sponsor to go with your need for speed, how would you go about it?
Enter Andrew Denford, founder and chairman of the F1 in Schools program. F1 in Schools is a non profit company established in the United Kingdom and, since 1999 has been providing an exciting and challenging educational experience through the worldwide appeal of Formula One. F1 in Schools is supported by all the Formula One teams and has been granted a world-wide protected trademark by no less than F1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone.
To run a pilot program in the Philippines, four to five schools are needed to compete to be named the best of the best. The winning team then gets to enter the world finals to compete for the title of F1 in Schools World Champion. Students with ages raging from 9 to 19 are challenged to tap their inner engineer and hone their business acumen to develop the fastest F1 cars of the future using math, science and technology. They are given access to 3D computer aided design software (CAD) to design the future cars in Formula One. Entries are checked in a virtual reality wind tunnel using computational fluid dynamics software (CFD). All the software used is licensed by F1 in Schools.
Participants create miniature gas-powered cars made from balsa wood and race it run down a 20-meter straight track. The fastest to the finish line wins.
Last year, 22 countries took part in the competition with the finals held in Abu Dhabi, and the team from Australia, Cold Fusion, which set a time of 1.045 seconds on the 20-meter track, was crowned champion. Apart from taking home the Bernie Ecclestone World Trophy, scholarships for Motorsport and Automotive Engineering from the City University-London were awarded to the young Aussies.
This year the finals will be held in Austin Texas coinciding with the Austin GP in mid November.
Will we see the Philippines represented in this worldwide competition?
We certainly hope so.
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