Yas Marina Circuit, the F1 racing facility in Abu Dhabi and Mubadala, a leading Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, crowned two schools who won a contest a to use software to design, build and race miniature Formula 1 cars.

Eleven teams from six schools across the UAE competed at Yas Marina Circuit to find the UAE national champion of the F1 in Schools competition.

Team Impulse from Dubai College, came in the first place and will represent the UAE in the 2010 world championships in Singapore in September.

Team 540 Yeah came in the runner-up and they will get the chance to form a special collaboration team with the second-placed team in the Australian national competition in order to participate in the same world championship event.

“I am extremely impressed by the high standard of all the entries,” said Richard Cregan, chief executive officer of Yas Marina Circuit.

“Having the possibility of two teams competing in this year’s world championship in Singapore will be a huge boost to building the F1 in Schools franchise here in the UAE,” he added.

Homaid Al Shemmari, executive director of Mubadala Aerospace, said: “This challenge offers us the opportunity to engage UAE students in an entertaining yet educational experience to inspire them to seek out a future in high-tech industries.”

Yas Marina Circuit owns the UAE programme for F1 in Schools, the world’s leading multi-disciplinary challenge for 9-19 year-old students.

The miniature cars are made from balsa wood and powered by a single compressed air cylinder. Working in teams of three to six, the students must also prepare a business plan, develop a marketing strategy, and make a presentation to a panel of judges.

Teams are awarded points for each aspect of their project and the overall winners will receive the Bernie Ecclestone F1 in Schools world championship trophy at the world finals in Singapore, a statement said.

All members of the winning team will also receive a four-year university scholarship, it added. – TradeArabia News Service