Formula Student is the world’s largest student motorport event competition and challenges student engineers to design, build and race a single seat racing car in one year. This year, there were 135 teams in total, with 49 from the UK and teams from as far afield as Australia, Turkey and Ukraine.
The overall winners at this year’s competition were Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), who stormed to victory with a light, innovative race car – and who have now won Formula Student two years in a row.
Stijn Pennings, Team Leader for Formula Student Team Delft, said: ‘All the hard work over the past year has paid off and the whole team has gained invaluable hands-on experience of what is involved in developing a car from start to finish.
“I think the key to our win is the extremely light and agile nature of our car. This year we trimmed the weight of the drivetrain and also had a one-piece monocoque.
“We worked well as a team and I am incredibly proud and happy with our win – particularly winning by such a big margin.”
Professor Richard Folkson, President of the Institution, said: “The calibre of the engineering on display this year was exceptional and Team Delft were very worthy winners. Their car was agile, quick and had some impressive innovations from last year’s car including the side wings.
“Overall the level at the competition keeps improving every year and I am also delighted with the success of the University of Bath, who were the top UK team. They had the top score for the Endurance test and did very well to come in at an impressive fourth place.
“This year’s event was a great success and every one of the more than 3000 students who took part should be proud of what they have achieved.”
Team Delft’s prize-winning score was 909.3 out of a total of 1000 points. Germany’s UAS Zwickau claimed second place with 792.5 points, the University of Stuttgart came third with 750.8 and the University of Bath was the top UK team, coming fourth with 748.4 points. The Technical University of Munich came fifth, while UK teams Oxford Brookes and the University of Birmingham placed sixth and seventh respectively.
Formula Student is known for its electric atmosphere, and this year’s competition was no exception. Raymond Hodgkinson, a Fellow of the Institution and Messer Cutting Systems Regional Manager, who attended the event in a volunteering capacity, said: “There’s always such a great atmosphere at Formula Student. The students are so supportive and encouraging of each other; their attitude is fantastic.
“For me, the best thing about Formula Student is seeing the students’ enthusiasm, seeing the great efforts they have put in to their cars, and seeing what they are capable of achieving.”
Securing a spot at Formula Student demands commitment, passion, and a lot of work. Marcelo Mader of the Sheffield University team said: “Formula Student requires a lot of dedication. To get here today, I had to show a lot of enthusiasm, as well as prove that I’m competent enough in terms of practical skills.”
Ryan Marks of the Cardiff University team said: “Formula Student has got me absolutely hooked on designing race cars. Once you start working on a little bit of a component, it becomes all you think about. You’re constantly thinking of ways that you can improve it; it’s got to the stage where I find myself in bed awake at night thinking about how I can make parts better.”
Not only does Formula Student provide useful a fun, hands-on engineering experience, but it is also an invaluable networking event for students, too.
Glen Pascoe of GKN Hybrid Power said: “Formula Student is a great event because there is a really good synergy between the university courses that are being run and the companies out in industry who are looking for top graduates, whether they be from the UK or from Europe. It’s a great event to bring both industry and university together and showcase some great engineering talent.”
Gonzalo Ferreiro-Pérez of the University of Vigo team said: “I think that Formula Student will benefit the career of every student that’s here today. At Formula Student you’re surrounded by the future of engineering and it’s a huge opportunity.”
In addition to the main competition, the full-scale model of the Bloodhound SuperSonic Car was on display on Saturday 11 July, providing an opportunity for members, students and the public to meet the project team and take a closer look at a replica of the fastest car in the world.
The prototype wheelchair being designed by a group of Institution members to help a disabled athlete reach the top of Kilimanjaro was also on show.
Formula Student’s partners this year were Bosch, GKN, Jaguar Land Rover, Mathworks and Mercedes-Benz HPP.
Visit our
Formula Student results page for a full list of results.