FORMULA STUDENT · YOUR NEXT CHAPTER
Formula Student. This could be your first racing team.
Imagine standing at Silverstone, watching a car you helped create head out onto the track. Months of ideas, workshop sessions, small breakthroughs and shared determination have brought your team to this moment.
That’s the possibility Formula Student opens up: a university competition where students design, build and compete with a real single-seat racing car. And there’s a whole team of people behind making it happen.
And the good news? Formula 1 Teams love you to have experience with Formula Student on your CV because it mimics much of what they do on a day to day basis, and gives you a wealth of experience of working together as a team in a competitive capacity.
New to Formula Student? Start with the story · Explore the competition
WHAT IS FORMULA STUDENT?
A university competition. A real racing car.
Formula Student brings together university teams to create their own small racing cars and put them to the test in an international competition. In the UK, the event is organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, with the competition taking place at Silverstone.
The challenge starts long before the car reaches the circuit. Students work out what they want to build, develop the design, find the resources, manufacture components and test how everything works together. Along the way, there are decisions to make, problems to untangle and plenty of reasons to celebrate a little progress.
It brings a very different feeling to studying. A calculation can become a component. A sponsorship proposal can help fund the next test. A piece of software can change how the team understands the car. You get to see your work become part of something you’re building together.
THE BIG IDEA
Your ideas. Your team. A car you can point to.
For anyone who’s wondered what it might feel like to be part of a motorsport team, Formula Student gives that curiosity somewhere to go.
THE SEASON BUILDS TOWARDS THIS
From your university workshop to the Silverstone paddock.
Competition is where the project takes on a whole new energy. Teams arrive with their cars, their preparation and the hope that everything they’ve worked on will come together. There are other universities to meet, judges to learn from and a shared sense of occasion.
01 · PRESENT IT
Tell the story behind your car
In the static events, students present the thinking behind the design, costs, sustainability and business case. It’s a chance to explain the decisions your team has made and talk through the project with industry judges.
02 · PREPARE IT
Get ready for the track
Technical and safety checks are part of preparing a car for the dynamic events. The work in the paddock matters here: checking, adjusting and helping the team get ready for its next challenge.
03 · COMPETE WITH IT
See what your car can do
Acceleration, skid pad, sprint and endurance events put different parts of the car’s performance to the test. They turn all those development decisions into something you can watch, measure and learn from.
There’s a lot behind the moment a car crosses the line.
For a student team, getting a car ready to compete can be an achievement in itself. Seeing it complete an event, finding a solution together in the paddock or coming home with an award can become the story people remember long after the season finishes.
Scores build across several challenges, giving the engineering, preparation and business thinking a chance to count alongside the car’s performance. The whole project has a part to play.
MORE THAN THE FINISHED CAR
The experience stays with you. Long after the event.
You might join because you love racing cars. What you discover along the way can reach much further: work you enjoy, people you click with and a growing sense of what you’re capable of.
See your ideas come to life
There’s something satisfying about watching an idea move from a conversation to a drawing, a test or a finished part. You start making connections between what you’re learning and what you can actually do.
Find people who share your curiosity
A team gives you people to learn with, ask questions of and share the small victories with. The conversations around a project can be just as memorable as the competition itself.
Discover the work you really enjoy
You get to explore what different departments do and where your own interests take you. That’s useful whether you find a specialism you love or discover an entirely different side of motorsport.
Build confidence through experience
Taking responsibility, explaining an idea and helping solve a problem give you something real to build on. Those experiences can travel with you into placements, interviews and your next team.
WHERE COULD YOU FIT IN?
A racing car brings all sorts of people together.
You might be drawn to engineering, business, computing or creative work. Formula Student teams can need all of those strengths. Explore the areas below, then ask your university team where you could get involved.
Engineering & design
Shape the car, develop components and explore how ideas perform through calculations, models and testing. If you love asking “could this work better?”, there’s plenty to get curious about.
Data & software
Help the team understand what the car is doing. Explore analysis, simulation, code and the systems that turn information into useful decisions.
Manufacturing & build
Be part of turning drawings and materials into a real car. Making, assembling and testing components can give you a close understanding of how a racing project comes together.
Electronics & controls
Bring the car’s electrical systems to life through sensors, wiring, power systems and controls. It’s a world where careful thinking and practical problem-solving meet.
Project management
Help a group of students become an organised team. Bring people, plans and deadlines together so the project keeps moving towards competition.
Finance & cost
Help the team make the most of its resources. Budgets, purchasing and cost work are part of giving great ideas a practical route onto the car.
Sponsorship & partnerships
Find organisations that could support the team, develop proposals and build relationships. Your work could help make the next component, test or competition trip possible.
Marketing & media
Tell the team’s story through photography, video, design, social media and events. Bring the people, progress and excitement of the season to a wider audience.
You don’t need to have your whole career mapped out to be interested. A first conversation with the team can help you discover what joining could look like for your course, year and interests.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Your first step could be a simple hello.
Have a look at what your university team is building and what they’ve been sharing. Then get in touch. You’re allowed to be interested before you know exactly where you’ll fit.
01 · GET CURIOUS
Find your university team
Start with the links below, your students’ union or your university’s engineering department. Team websites and social channels are a good way to get a feel for the project and the people behind it.
02 · SAY HELLO
Tell them what interests you
Share your course, your year and the sort of work you’d love to explore. An interest in partnerships, media, software or organising things can be just as worth mentioning as an interest in the car itself.
03 · TAKE A FIRST STEP
Ask where you could begin
Find out about their next introduction session, current opportunities and how new members learn. Each university team has its own joining process, so a conversation is the best way to discover your next step.
“I’ve been following what you’re building and I’d love to learn more. I’m studying [your course] and I’m interested in [your area]. Is there a chance to meet the team?”
FIND A FORMULA STUDENT TEAM
Meet the students already making it happen.
Explore their projects, see the cars they’ve built and get a feel for the team you could become part of. These examples are a starting point for your research, with links to official team or university pages.
Oxford Brookes Racing
Oxford Brookes University
Team Bath Racing Electric
University of Bath
Warwick Racing
University of Warwick
LUMotorsport
Loughborough University
Cardiff Racing
Cardiff University
UBRacing
University of Birmingham
Southampton University Formula Student Team
University of Southampton
Sheffield Formula Racing
University of Sheffield
University of Nottingham Racing
University of Nottingham
Coventry Phoenix Racing
Coventry University
Leeds Gryphon Racing
University of Leeds
Strathclyde Motorsport
University of Strathclyde
There are many more teams to discover. The IMechE lists are a useful place to explore UK competition entrants, including the different classes. Your own university team can tell you about its current projects and recruitment.
TAKE THE EXPERIENCE WITH YOU
You’ll have stories you can’t get from a textbook.
When an application asks about teamwork or an interviewer wants to hear how you solved a problem, you could have a whole season of experiences to draw on.
The moment you worked something out.
Perhaps you helped investigate a test result, found a sponsor who believed in the team or changed a plan when a deadline moved. Those moments help you explain what you enjoy, how you think and what you bring to a group.
Save a few notes as you go: what you were working on, what you tried and what you learned. You’re collecting the stories that will help someone else understand your experience.
A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE
You can discover your direction by getting involved.
Formula Student can help you explore a motorsport ambition while you’re still studying. The value is in the chance to try things, build relationships and understand the kind of work you’d like to do more of.
KEEP THAT CURIOSITY GOING
There’s more to explore from here.
Found something that excites you? Follow it a little further, whether that’s learning about the competition, discovering a role or seeing what employers are looking for.
Go deeper into Formula Student
Explore our longer guide to the competition and why getting involved can be such a memorable part of university life.
Discover the work behind F1
Get to know the different careers in a racing team and explore where the skills you’re building could connect.
Take a look at real opportunities
Read current motorsport vacancies to discover the work, skills and experience behind the job titles.
THE FORMULA CAREERS NETWORK
Keep the momentum going.
Bring your ideas, your progress and your “where do I start?” questions into a community of people building their own futures in motorsport.
From university choices and Formula Student projects to placements and first applications, there’s plenty to talk about. Share what you’re learning, hear other perspectives and keep exploring the industry you want to be part of.
Formula Careers is an independent careers resource. The featured teams are some of the many university teams you can explore. Team activities and joining arrangements vary, so explore the current information on their own pages. Competition information checked against IMechE guidance on 12 November 2026. Formula Student is a trademark of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.