ENGINEERS from a Chelmsford school finished second in the Best Engineered Car award at the Formula 1 in Schools National Finals.

The achievement means the students from St. John Payne School will have an opportunity to unite with a second placed team from another country to compete at the F1 in Schools World Finals in the USA this November.

The team, named Tempest, consisted of Emily Powell, Jennifer Jardine, Neil Buchanan and Henry Whittington.

Team Manager, Emily Powell said of the team’s success, “It was a surprise as the competition is so tough, so we didn’t expect to have been on the podium today.

“We put in a lot of work and we’re pleased that this has been recognised with the awards. Going to America for the World Finals will be amazing too and working with another team from another country will be quite an interesting challenge.”

Tempest earned their place in the National Finals after a strong performance in the London & South East Regional Final.

The put in many hours of hard work to design, build, test and race their scale-model Formula One car of the future, they were rewarded with the two awards.

F1 in Schools challenges students to create their own Formula One team.

They have to design, construct and race and race miniature Formula One Car of the future.

One they have finished their design they have to construct a 21cm long scale model built from a block of balsa wood and powered by a compressed air cylinder.

The teams then race their model car on a specially designed 20 metre test track, with the cars covering the distance in just over one second.

Andrew Denford, Founder and Chairman, F1 in Schools, said: “After two days of judging and racing for the 30 teams, it all came down to the wire and we crowned our F1 in Schools UK Champions 2013.

“The judges were given a massive challenge by the outstanding work of these teams, with so much effort, passion, creativity and skill put into producing some of the most innovative designs of F1 in “Schools scale-model Formula One cars of the future. It was also fantastic to see carbon fibre being used for the first time in F1 in Schools.”

“All the teams are winners for reaching the National Finals and for taking on the challenge presented by F1 in Schools.

“It is great to see them learning so much from the project, not just academically but also in the life skills they acquire in the process of competing and sharing their experience with their peers.

“We hope that many of them will use the experience in their future careers and benefit from participating in the competition.”