A total of 20 awards were presented in the F1 in Schools Greece 2014 National Finals on 2 and 3 May 2014, rewarding the hard work and high standards of work produced by the 18 finalist teams from 16 schools all over the Greece.

Sapphire Racing, a team of students from Italian School in Athens, crowned the F1 in Schools Greece National Champions 2014 and won the opportunity to represent Greece in the 2014 World Championships in Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi in November this year. Sapphire Racing was formed in September 2013 by a group of students of 16 or 17 years of age from the Italian School of Athens, who participated in the challenge for the first time. Although there were already two teams from the Greek section of the school that had participated in the F1 in schools challenge in the past, Sapphire Racing was the first to represent the Italian section of the school. It’s been many months of hard work for the team, who not only took victory overall but also won the Research and Development Award, Best Newcomer Award and Pressure Challenge Award.

In second place was Pole Position, a team of students from the American College Greece – Pierce in Athens who participated in the challenge for the first time. This team also won the Best Engineered Car Award.

The third placed team was Fulmine from Italian Schools in Athens, and they also won the Fastest Car Award, the Team Identity Award, and the Knock-out competition Award.

In addition to racing head-to-head, the competing teams were judged on the quality of portfolio, comprehensive in Physics and Engineering, project management, marketing sponsorship activities, graphic design, and on a verbal presentation of their work.

The Sponsorship and marketing Award was presented to The Fighters from The 1st Technical and Vocational School of Patras.

Sciron from Arsakeio Schools Ekali Athens, took the Innovative Thinking and Verbal Presentation Awards and the Best Portfolio Award went to S.Pol.1 from 1st Technical and Vocational School from Polixnis Thessaloniki.

X-aile Racing from Hellenic France School ‘Saint Joseph’ Athens impressed the judges to win the Pit Display Award, and the Best Public School Award was given to the Team ESTheta from Experimental School of University Thessaloniki.

Iris Racing from Italian School of Athens, took the Best Team Award from Middle Schools and the Outstanding and Sportsmanship Award was given to the Team Reset from the Anatolia College Thessaloniki.

The Best Website Award was presented to The X-aile Racing from Hellenic France School ‘Saint Joseph’ Athens, and the Social Media Award was given to Fast6 Racing, from Ekpaideutiki Anagennisi School. Gaia Racing from the 1st Lyceum Thessaloniki, took the Perseverance in the Face of Adversity Award.

The event held at the Mall Athens Center, and the overall winners of the competition are awarded prestigious scholarships to Hellenic British College Athens.

The F1 in Schools Greece 2014 contest is run under the auspices of the The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace (ex-Ministry of Northern Greece).

Dimitris Polymatidis (SETApps), in Country Coordinator F1 in Schools Greece and Cyprus congratulated all of the participants, “The level of work produced by the students is outstanding and it was amazing to see the excitement and enthusiasm from both students and teachers alike. Our congratulations go to the Sapphire Racing for winning the all over prize at the National Finals, to Pole Position finished in second place, and to Fulmine finished in third place. An incredible level of commitment and teamwork was displayed from our three winning teams and we are absolutely delighted to see them to represent our country in this year’s World Championships”.

The F1 in Schools Greece National Finals 2014 took place with the support of The Mall Athens Center, Hellenic British College, The Hellenic Physical Society (E.E.F.), The Technological Educational Institute of Athens, The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace, and the European Union project “Inspiring Science Education”.

The F1 in Schools is an educational application of the Inspiring Science Education (ISE) project and has been used for the development of the following Inspiring Science Education (ISE) Demonstrators:

SETApps, a partner in the Inspiring Science Education project, is running the F1inSchools Greece Contest , which is now in its 3rd year of operation. Many teachers participating in this year F1inSchools Greece Contest are willing to join the Inspiring Science Network.

The F1 in Schools is a worldwide multi-disciplinary challenge for pupils aged from 9-19, and one of the largest educational initiatives promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). It was first introduced in the UK in 1999 and has grown around the world operating now in over 30 countries.