In a year of turbulence and change for the competition one thing has stayed consistent, Britannia Red from Robert May’s School, Odiham have once again been crowned UK National Champions.

The team of six were joined on the podium by second placed finishers Electron from Saint Olave’s Grammar School and Eclipse from Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School rounding out the podium to finish third.

These teams will be joined at the World Finals—hinted as being as early as March 2021 by competition Chairman and Founder Andrew Denford, though this seems practically unlikely—by Welsh Champions Nemesis Inferno from Pencoed Comprehensive School and first place Development Class finishers IQ from North London Collegiate. Nova Racing from Kimbolton School and Dynamic Racing from Monifieth High School placed second and third respectively.

This year’s final was very different to that of the 2019 UK National Finals hosted at the Airbus Factory in North Wales. Originally scheduled to take place at the beginning of April, the event was postponed and changed to a virtual final for which teams had to submit their marked components and cars earlier in the Summer.

This provided new challenges to all the teams as they had to move to online submission of documents, including pit displays and verbal presentations, and resulted in a change to racing regulations that meant each car only raced once. These races were very close in the Professional Class, with only 0.007 seconds between the first and fifth fastest cars, but was won out by Aquila Racing whose car completed the 20 metres in just 1.103. In the Development Class the fastest time was 1.239, achieved by IQ.

A Second Year Running

This is the second time Britannia Red placed first overall at the UK National Finals having also won in 2019. This is all part of the long running success of Robert May’s School who have sent five teams to the last six World Finals, including 2014 World Champions Colossus F1.

Britannia Red showed a strong performance across the board earning the awards for Best Engineered Car and Verbal Presentation award.

The Final Awards

UK National Champions Professional Class: Britannia Red, Robert May’s School

2nd Place Professional Class: Electron, Saint Olave’s Grammar School

3rd Place Professional Class: Eclipse, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School

UK National Champions Development Class: IQ, North London Collegiate

2nd Place Development Class: Nova Racing, Kimbolton School

3rd Place Development Class: Dynamic Racing, Monifieth High School

Scotland Champions Professional Class: Genesis, Linlithgow Academy

Wales Champions Professional Class: Nemesis Inferno, Pencoed Comprehensive School

Fastest Car Professional Class: Aqulia Racing (1.103s), Aylsham High School

Fastest Car Development Class: IQ (1.239s), North London Collegiate

Best Engineered Car Professional Class: Britannia Red, Robert May’s School

Best Engineered Class Development Class: Nova Racing, Kimbolton School

Team Identity Professional Class: Electron, St Olave’s Grammar School

Team Identity Development Class: SuffraJETS, Whitley Bay High School

Sponsorship & Marketing Professional Class: Slidesports Entity, Hanson School

Sponsorship & Marketing Development Class: Emerus, Simon Langton Boy’s School

Research & Development Professional Class: Aquila Racing, Aylsham School

Research & Development Development Class: Peregrine Racing, Broughton High School

Portfolio Award Professional Class: Dynamic Racing, Monifieth High School

Portfolio Award Development Class: Genesis, Linlithgow Academy

Verbal Professional Class: Britannia Red, Robert May’s School

Verbal Development Class: IQ, North London Collegiate

Pit Display Professional Class: Eclipse, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School

Pit Display Development Class: Blackout, St John’s College Cardiff

Digital Media Professional Class: Nemesis Inferno, Pencoed Comprehensive School

Digital Media Development Class: CH Speed, Cheadle Hulme School

Judges Choice: Enhance Racing by McL&H, Linlithgow Academy

George Stonor is a UK correspondent. He was the Team Principal and Lead Engineer of 2019 F1 in Schools World Champions, Evolve UK.