STEM Racing — The Revamped F1 in Schools Challenge Explained for IP Math & Physics Students
Download printable cheat-sheet (CC-BY 4.0)05 Aug 2025, 00:00 Z
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. Since the re-brand, regulations tighten minimum car mass to 550 g (including wheels) and mandate 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?
| Element | Before 2024 | After 2024 re-brand |
| Official name | F1 in Schools | STEM Racing |
| Minimum car mass | 500 g | 550 g |
| Track length | 20 m | 20 m (unchanged) |
| Mandatory CAD iterations | 1 | ≥ 3 |
| Allowed materials | Balsa only | Balsa + recycled PLA blends |
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
- Concept brief
Teams write a one-page scope linking aesthetics, drag targets, and budget ceilings. - 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. - 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. - CAM & finishing
Balsa blanks are milled on 3-axis routers; recycled-PLA winglets bolt on post-paint. - 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 550 g floor — 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
- Download the official rulebook — see reference list.
- Sketch three nose profiles; compute frontal areas with (\pi r^2).
- Ask your physics tutor for a one-hour CFD taster before Term 1 WA 1.
References
Last updated 5 Aug 2025.
