Two Dubai College teams have walked away with awards from this year's F1 in Schools World Championships in Kuala Lumpur.
Team Redshift were yesterday awarded the Lotus Renault Innovative Thinking Award for the rear-wing design of their car. Judges noted the amount of thought put into the radical design.
Team Axis, which were runners-up in this year's UAE F1 in Schools competition, worked with a Malaysian team and won the Ferrari Award for Best Team Identity.
The two UAE teams battled 21 competitors from 16 countries for three days. Each team had to develop a car from balsa wood, powered by a gas cylinder, which was then shot down a 20-metre track.
Teams were also judged on their ability to raise money, manage budgets for research, travel and accommodation, and create a pit lane display.
"We think that this respectable award paves the way for our future in motorsports, as well as making history in F1 in Schools with our revolutionary car design," said Shounak Das, the manager for Team Redshift. "We really could not have done it without the support of our sponsors."
Team Redshift was also nominated for Best Engineered Car, which was won by the Australian team Pentagliders who went on to win the overall championship.
Richard Cregan, the chief executive of Yas Marina Circuit, attended the finals and said he was proud to see the UAE teams succeed.
"It is a delight to see young people step up to such a challenge and do so well at an international level," Mr Cregan said. "It shows great potential for the future of the F1 in Schools programme in the UAE and for motorsport in general in the region."
Both teams will be guests of Mr Cregan at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 11 to 13.
