The 2020 F1 in Schools World Finals will be held online, competition organisers have announced.

F1 in Schools recognised that due to the “continuation of the of the COVID-19 pandemic, the next F1 in Schools World Finals will be required to be a COVID-safe virtual event,”

Organisers said that teams would compete “virtually in what will be a World Finals like no other”.

This will be the first time that the World Finals hasn’t been held with teams in attendance since the competition began.

The World Finals were postponed earlier in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Finals were originally due to take place in Singapore in September 2020, however in an email to in-country coordinators in April, competition founder Andrew Denford recognised that this was “not viable”.

There had been a campaign earlier in the year by Australia’s in-country organisers to bring the event to the country. Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo pledged his support for the World Finals to be held in Melbourne. Off The Track earlier reported that organisers were aiming to have the World Finals coincide with the 2021 Australian Grand Prix, to be held in March 2021.

It appears that organisers are still working to this timeline. Competition Regulations state that teams must upload portfolios two weeks prior to the event. Organisers have requested that portfolios be uploaded by 2 March – two weeks prior to the week of the Australian Grand Prix.

It is possible that the event may still be hosted in Melbourne to tie it to the Australian Grand Prix and alongside the 2021 Australian National Final.

The date and location for the virtual World Finals is yet to be formally announced.

World Finals go virtual

For the first time in F1 in Schools history, all World Finalists will not be physically present at the event venue.

Instead, teams will attend the World Finals remotely, similar to arrangements put in place for National Finals throughout 2020.

The announcement came alongside the release of the Competition Regulations for the World Finals. A supplementary document will be released at a later date with further details on provisions for the virtual event.

Peter Russell was Digital Communications and Brand Manager for Infinitude, the F1 in Schools World Record holders.