Faversham teens represent UK in World Formula 1-themed competition finals
Team Eclipse from the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School have taken their miniature race-car it to Singapore for the F1 in Schools World Finals this week. Here's Invicta Sport presenter Bartholomew Hall speaking to them as the week unfolds.
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - So how are you all doing?
00:08 I know you're in Singapore.
00:09 What's been the sort of time difference?
00:11 Have you had a bit of jet lag
00:12 or have you kind of got used to it by now?
00:14 - Yeah, no, it's been amazing so far.
00:16 It's been already an amazing experience
00:20 being so far from home and being around so many people
00:24 of the same interests or age.
00:25 Yeah, it's been fantastic.
00:26 We have struggled a little bit of jet lag.
00:28 We've been a bit tired over the last four days.
00:30 That is such a big time difference,
00:31 but no, we've had a great time.
00:33 - We landed at 5 a.m. in the morning
00:34 and went straight into a full day of stuff to do.
00:37 So yeah, we've been nonstop,
00:38 but it's been a great experience so far.
00:40 - But it's F1 in schools and we love it.
00:41 So any late nights, you just have to push through.
00:45 (upbeat music)
00:57 - Yeah, we've had so many judging sessions
00:59 for all of the project elements.
01:00 So even the design engineering, the pit display,
01:03 the project management, enterprise, everything,
01:05 we've all got that done now.
01:06 So we're sort of a bit more relaxed.
01:08 We can go enjoy ourselves tonight, the following days.
01:11 We've got a water ceremony in two days' time
01:13 and tomorrow's a knockout competition.
01:14 So a lot of fun in store for the next two days.
01:17 - Now, the last time I saw you,
01:19 the car looked a bit different.
01:20 I can't remember if that was because
01:21 it was last year's car or last one,
01:23 but I understand it's now got a halo added to it.
01:25 Can you explain the sort of changes to me?
01:28 - Yeah, so for the world finals,
01:30 we had to implement a halo component
01:32 just to replicate Formula One.
01:34 And yeah, that's made the entire car look very differently,
01:37 as you can see from the last car you looked at.
01:39 And since we saw you,
01:42 we've done a lot of research and development,
01:43 a lot of testing, and this has been our final product.
01:46 And it's performed well, we're pretty proud of it, so yeah.
01:48 - And just to add on to Javier's point,
01:50 we've been able to this season work more than ever
01:52 with loads of industry experts.
01:55 So we feel the manufacture of our car
01:57 is to the highest standard we could.
01:59 - Yeah, it all sounds fantastic.
02:00 And then I suppose you get to end the week as well.
02:01 You're in Singapore where Formula One is.
02:03 What's that going to be like?
02:04 Are you looking forward to it?
02:06 - Absolutely, yeah.
02:07 We can't wait to go to the Grand Prix.
02:09 It's a night race as well,
02:10 so completely different to anything we've seen before.
02:12 And the atmosphere there is meant to be incredible as well.
02:15 So yeah, really looking forward to that this weekend.
02:17 - Yeah, we even get a pit walk with all the teams,
02:19 so that's going to be pretty amazing.
02:21 And just one thing I wanted to say
02:23 is obviously a massive thank you to all our partners,
02:25 everyone from school and our community supporting us.
02:27 We really appreciate it.
02:29 And yeah, we'd be here without you.
02:30 - Well, Tom, Evie and Javier,
02:32 thank you very much for speaking with me this morning
02:34 and good luck with the rest of the competition.
02:37 - Thank you very much. - Thank you very much.
02:37 - Cheers. - Brilliant, see you later.