São Paulo – The Força Canindé team of students from São Paulo’s Colégio Bandeirantes school competed in the finals of the F1 in Schools contest, in Abu Dhabi, and was named best rookie team of 2014. The trophy was presented to the team members a few days prior to the final race of this year’s Formula 1 championship, due at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit on November 22nd. The winners were announced on November 19th.
In the final scores, the Brazilian team placed 20th among 38 contenders. This was the first time a team from Brazil ever competed in the tournament, held since 2000, which has students design miniature Formula 1 race cars. The winner is the top scoring team in categories such as project design, presentation and marketing planning, among others, just like a real Formula 1 team.
This year’s winning team is from the United Kingdom. The Colossus team members have been awarded graduate and postgraduate scholarship grants in engineering-related fields at City London University.
For the organizers of Formula 1, the project is a way of finding talents that can eventually turn professional. During the contest finals, held from November 16th to 19th in Abu Dhabi, the students toured the F1 teams’ pit stop areas and met the team managers and drivers.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
