F1 in Schools: a playground for a future in racing
Building a miniature Formula 1 car? It's child's play, at least for high school students taking part at F1® in Schools Italy, a multidisciplinary project in which they have to design and build a scale F1 car. For the second year running, Pirelli is Official Partner of the initiative and appears on the tyres of the miniature single-seaters with the P Zero brand, the same brand used in the top championship in real Formula 1.
The cars, slightly larger than a hand and propelled by a jet of compressed air, compete against each other on a 24-metre-long straight: the one with the most effective aerodynamics, the result of design work studied and carried out entirely by the students, wins.
The first stage is the designing phase, in which students use the CAD programme made available to them by the organisers. Using computer numerical control machines and 3D printers, the boys build the chassis of the car on which the four Pirelli P Zero tyres with their characteristic printed shoulder are mounted.
The car is tested virtually using computational fluid dynamics software and then in a wind tunnel in smoke, before technical checks and finally the litmus test on the track.
F1® in Schools Italy is the Italian initiative of a global platform involving educational institutions in 60 countries worldwide and more than one million students with the aim of enabling participants to deepen their knowledge of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and thus offer new professional opportunities in the world of motorsport.
"Often our track engineers, during the championship stages, meet groups of young students who are interested in learning more about certain STEM subjects, also with a view to considering a career in racing," says Mario Isola, Pirelli's Motorsport Director. "By listening to the experiences of our team members, we hope they can draw inspiration for what could become their professional future, in a stimulating and highly competitive environment that knows how to give incredible satisfaction".
Schools enrolled in F1® in Schools Italy also receive video lessons recorded by Mario Isola and some Pirelli engineers, together with specific tyre teaching material.
The crucial phase of F1® in Schools Italy has already begun. The registered teams, made up of a maximum of six students, have in fact been competing over the past few days to determine the first 20 semi-finalist groups. The next qualifications will determine access to the national final, from which a couple of teams will emerge to represent Italy at the world finals at the end of 2025.
