STEM Racing: Revamped F1 in Schools Challenge Explained for IP Math & Physics Students

TL;DR
STEM Racing tasks teams of up to six students to design, analyse, manufacture, and race a CO\(_2\)-powered scale car down a 20 m track. Under the updated banner, technical regs remain class‑specific; in Pro‑class the minimum car mass is ~50 g. Expect at least three judged CAD iterations. Physics and mathematics from the IP syllabus — Bernoulli pressure maps, Reynolds number estimates, trigonometric lofting, and cost budgeting — show up at every stage.

1 What changed when F1 in Schools became STEM Racing?

The governing body introduced the heavier minimum to slow cars slightly and widen design space for energy-recovery experiments. The fresh name signals that coding and electronics weigh as much as sleek bodywork.

2 Competition flow in five checkpoints

1. Concept brief
   Teams write a one-page scope linking aesthetics, drag targets, and budget ceilings.
2. CAD development
   Year 3 IP trigonometry meets loft-surface modelling: loft profiles rotated around a centreline produce volumes whose frontal area can be evaluated directly in software.
3. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
   Velocity fields verify that stagnation pressure regions stay behind the nose cone. Students often plot pressure coefficient \(C_p = \frac{p - p_\infty}{\tfrac12 \rho v^2}\) to grade improvements.
4. CAM & finishing
   Balsa blanks are milled on 3-axis routers; recycled-PLA winglets bolt on post-paint.
5. Race & engineering judging
   Reaction-time points, portfolio interviews, and “cost-to-performance” ratios decide the podium.

3 Physics & mathematics crossover for IP tuition

3.1 Bernoulli & boundary layers

CFD teaches the link between static-to-dynamic pressure swaps and the superposition principle you meet in Oscillations Topic 11.

3.2 Dimensional analysis

Matching Reynolds number \(Re = \dfrac{\rho v L}{\mu}\) across model and full-scale F1 depends on the Quantities & Measurements skill of declaring base units before substituting.

3.3 Energy budgets

Kinetic energy of the gas cartridge converts to car translation:
\[ E_k = \tfrac12 m v^2 . \] Minimising (m) is now bound by the class minimum mass (e.g., ~50 g in Pro) — an optimisation problem that blends IP calculus with WA budget arithmetic.

3.4 Cost spreadsheet

Teams earn penalty marks if spending exceeds the $200 virtual budget. Spreadsheet =LINEST() — already drilled for Paper 4 practical — evaluates cost vs drag gradient.

4 Why parents should care

• Portfolio bonus: winning national teams often list STEM Racing under research science in DSA applications.
• Skill transfer: the same LOGEST and Bernoulli derivations appear in A-Level H2 Physics Section VIII.
• Time management: the typical build cycle runs January → May, overlapping IP Term 2 WAs — plan tuition slots early.

5 Getting started

1. Download the official rulebook — see reference list.
2. Sketch three nose profiles; compute frontal areas with (\pi r^2).
3. Ask your physics tutor for a one-hour CFD taster before Term 1 WA 1.

References

• STEM Racing (official)
• World Finals (latest)
• F1 in Schools (official site)
• Sample SolidWorks car file
• SimScale Documentation (CFD)
• CO2 cartridge energy data sheet
• Reynolds number tutorial
• Excel VBA — WorksheetFunction.LinEst
• DSA science talent criteria

Last updated 5 Aug 2025.