How F1 is creating its secret stars of the future

The child is, to paraphrase the old saying, the parent to the adult. There is not a single driver on today's Formula 1 grid who can deny that his childhood dreams and experiences informed his life; led him on the path to F1.

Of course, only a select few make it to the pinnacle of motorsport; get to spearhead a team effort measured in hundreds (or even thousands) of dedicated folk covering virtually every professional discipline.

A structured staircase of motorsport categories ranging from karting through feeder single-seater formulas through Formula 3 and Formula 2, plus various young driver academies, whittles tens of thousands of hopeful kids down to hundreds, then tens before one of their number eventually proves to have the talent to make it into F1.

Ironically, though, no pre-determined career path takes budding engineers up the ladder into F1.

Which is where F1 in Schools comes into play: a contest founded in the UK in 1999 by Andrew Denford, whose eponymous manufacturing company produces machine tools aimed primarily at the educational market ("Our top-of-the-range machine is roughly equal to where [F1 team owner Gene] Haas starts") in order to inject a competitive element into technical education.

The first finals of what was then a purely British contest were held in 2001 in conjunction with Jaguar Racing (now Red Bull). The concept spread rapidly, and by '03 11 regions participated, with the first World Finals being staged a year later at Jaguar's headquarters. Team Turbo of Pennsylvania, USA was crowned the first world champion.

Official recognition came in 2005 when then-F1 tsar Bernie Ecclestone granted F1 in Schools the right to use the trademark-protected F1 logo, and donated the Bernie Ecclestone F1 in Schools World Championship trophy.

Commentator James Allen, technical guru Ross Brawn (then with Ferrari) and various other luminaries became patrons of the challenge, which by then had expanded to 18 countries.

"The passion, the intelligence, the creativity, the maturity that you guys have, it's just incredible" Chase Carey

But, as with most things Ecclestone-related, there was an air of expediency to his patronage. The initiative enabled him to crow about F1's educational commitment whenever approached for support, yet his backing fundamentally cost zero save for a piece of silverware. True, he provided a limited number of paddock passes, but his immediate circle regularly received larger quantities and trademark use was restricted.

For example, F1 in Schools was not permitted to seek support from companies other than those already in F1 - and many of those were already financially committed.

"We could not approach Brand A if its competitor Brand B was already in F1, which made it challenging, to say the least," an F1 in Schools insider explained. "Under Liberty we have a bit more leeway."

Indeed, F1 CEO and Chairman Chase Carey wholeheartedly backs the programme, and his extravagant moustache was much in evidence during the World Final banquet and awards evening held in Kuala Lumpur in the run-up to the Malaysian Grand Prix. Not only did he show a keen interest in all team activities, but he awarded the top prize to the Australian Hyperdrive team.

If there was an irony on the evening it was the Research and Development Award presented by McLaren-Honda

"My congratulations to all the teams, you guys are incredible, you just blew me away," he said. "The passion, the intelligence, the creativity, the maturity that you guys have, it's just incredible. If our future is in your hands, we've got a great future in this world.

"It's also tremendously exciting to see so many girls and all-girls teams in the competition. The teams from end-to-end, were fabulous. Speaking on behalf of Formula 1, we couldn't be prouder of Formula 1 in Schools.

"F1 in Schools is a great introduction to Formula 1 for schoolchildren and it really hits the mark with its blend of hands-on learning about engineering, understanding what it takes to create a winning race team and build a fast car."

In order to make it to F1's top step - literally, for the winners were feted on F1's podium last Saturday - Hyperdrive needed to not only produce a top-class car, but every aspect of the team was evaluated. As in real-world F1, the fastest car over the statutory 25 metres is not necessarily a shoo-in for the championship - the entire package needs to be top-drawer.

So it was with Hyperdrive - representing Trinity Grammar School in Melbourne - whose four team members came up first overall after being evaluated in categories ranging from their enterprise skills, car design, scrutineering, pit displays, portfolio evaluation, CAD/CAM skills, aero testing (in wind and smoke tunnels), verbal presentations and, last but far from least, racing.

Having taken the plunge and formed a team (obviously with the blessing of their schools, which in many cases requires supreme persuasion skills), team members are required to prepare business and marketing plans, raise the budgets necessary to build and race compliant cars, and (hopefully) attend the finale - the average raised was £30,000 - and to collaborate with local industry in order to create business networks.

Teams are permitted a minimum of three to a maximum of six people aged between nine and 19, divided into a team manager, resources manager, two manufacturing engineers, two design engineers and a graphic designer.

The next step is to design, construct and race the fastest mini Formula 1 car of the future: a 21cm-long scale model built from a modelling block and powered by a compressed-air cylinder using 3D CAD (computer aided design) software - as provided by sponsor Autodesk - with which to compete nationally, regionally and, ultimately, internationally with the knockout winners being invited to the World Final.

Provided, of course, they are able to finance the trip.

This year 51 teams, from countries as disparate as Austria and Australia and the United Arab Emirates and United States, made it to Kuala Lumpur. Next year's final will be contested in Singapore, as it was in 2015. Over the past decade finals have been held in evocative venues: Kuala Lumpur (3), Singapore (2), Abu Dhabi (2), Austin (2) and London (1). The list of winner domiciles is equally heady: Australia (4), USA (2), Germany (1), Greece (1), UK (1) and Ireland (1).

In total 23 awards were distributed in Kuala Lumpur, and an indication of the esteem in which the F1 in Schools project is held by the F1 community is the list of sponsors and donors: every F1 team plus sole tyre supplier Pirelli made an award for their chosen category.

As a further endorsement of F1 in Schools by the governing body, the FIA donated the scrutineering prize, awarded on the evening by Pierre Guyonnet-Duperat, the FIA's deputy F1 media delegate. Guyonnet-Duperat, 28, who joined the governing body as a trainee after writing a letter of application in which he outlined his passion for motorsport, is clearly on the fast-track in Paris, and acted as judge-of-fact during the finale.

Fittingly the Fastest Car Award was presented by Toto Wolff, team boss of Mercedes - although, truth be told, the Austrian had another, more personal reason to be there: his teenage son Benedict formed part of the Austrian Swift team. But Benedict had made clear to his father that this was his own affair.

If there was an irony on the evening it was the Research and Development Award presented by McLaren-Honda, although another fitting trophy was awarded by Williams, namely the Best Engineered Car Award - for team and sponsor Randstad provides truly the plum prize: internships with the Randstad Williams Engineering Academy, first instituted in 2015.

The Academy is a staged programme in which Williams supports students until completion of their university studies. The curriculum includes motorsport engineering themed e-learning, plus a variety of work placements and mentoring opportunities with senior Williams engineers. Crucially, the Academy is open to candidates from across the globe.

To be eligible, students must have made it through to the F1 in Schools World Finals, and be aged between 16 and 18 when enrolling. The initiative forms a key part of Williams and Randstad's commitment to encouraging the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects in schools and attracting more people into engineering-related careers.

"Williams is looking to nurture the cream of global engineering talent for future F1 engineers, and we're able to introduce top-level students through our World Finals event," explained Williams's HR director Nicola Salter.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for our students to potentially have a career path ahead of them that could lead to a highly sought-after job in Formula 1.

"I'm sure none of the students, when they signed up for F1 in Schools, ever imagined that they could be in with a chance of working in an F1 team."

During the six-day preliminaries, Williams and Randstad evaluated various budding engineers, settling on a shortlist of 25, of whom eight were selected. The applause when their names were called easily exceeded that of the podium winners of the World Final.

So impressed was Wolff - a former Williams shareholder, remember - with the internship concept that he has committed Mercedes to similarly support F1 in Schools.

"Yes, we will do a similar thing," he told Autosport. "We will join what Williams does; we just need to get together with Formula 1 in Schools and come up with a good plan."

If there were eight ecstatic youngsters in the banquet hall, there were also 17 extremely sad individuals, all of whom vowed to pick themselves up and be back next year, wiser and even better equipped - age permitting, of course.

"The experience of competing at the World Finals is one which these students will remember for many years," said Denford as the evening wound down.

"It opens their eyes to the different cultures, education, lifestyles, languages and much more. It's a life-changing trip for many students, with enduring friendships formed, career opportunities opened up to them as well as hard work, balanced with plenty of fun."

In a nutshell, that is F1 in Schools - a STEM initiative for youngsters with the drive, talent and commitment to compete against each other at the highest level in far-flung places, on- and off-track, with the ultimate aim of making it into F1 as part of a winning team. As young karters dream of F1 grids, so these youngsters dream of the F1 paddock and pitlane.