Chief Executive of The Formula One Group, Bernie Ecclestone, and Red Bull Racing driver, David Coulthard, have given their support to the F1 in Schools initiative ahead of next month’s World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“I think the collaboration element of the competition is a fantastic idea,” Bernie Ecclestone. “Formula One brings together a range of nationalities and cultures who work together to achieve a common goal and so replicating this in the F1 in Schools initiative will prove invaluable both personally and professionally for all the students taking part.”

Red Bull Racing’s David Coulthard is the latest high profile name to back the F1 in Schools initiative.

“F1 in Schools offers young people aspiring to work in F1 a great opportunity to experience the demands of designing, engineering and manufacturing a racing car while contributing enormously to their education and enjoyment. It’s inspirational to see them channelling their enthusiasm into engineering and Formula One.”

Ecclestone and Coulthard join F1 in Schools Patrons Ross Brawn, Honda Team Principal; Adrian Newey, Red Bull Technical Officer; Mike Gascoyne, Force India F1 Chief Technical Officer; Pat Symonds, Renault Engineering Director; Sam Michael, Williams Technical Director as key supporters of the F1 in Schools Technology Challenge.

Ross Brawn, the engineering brains behind Michael Schumacher’s seven F1 world championships, added…

“My career in engineering started as a youngster because of an enthusiastic father and a Meccano set. F1 in Schools takes the idea to another level and contributes enormously to the education and enjoyment of these young people. There is such a broad range of disciplines along with the need to be part of a team within a competitive environment. You can see the sheer enthusiasm they have and it is great that all this enthusiasm is channelled into engineering and Formula One. These are our engineers of the future and our future is engineering.”

The challenge is for school children aged 11 to 18 to use CAD/CAM software to design, analyse, manufacture, test and race their miniature F1 car made from balsa wood and powered by CO2 cylinders.

The 2008 World Championships are taking place at the 5* Sunway Lagoon Resort and Spa Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 18th to 20th March 2008, during the build up to the Petronas Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit. Over three days of enthralling competition, 25 teams will pit their small scale miniature F1 cars against each other along a 20-metre two lane track at a scale speed of over 220mph.

School children from 15 countries across the globe have won their way through regional and national finals, and competed against a global reach of 7 million students, to win the chance to represent their countries in the fourth annual World Championships. Teams will compete to win the Bernie Ecclestone World Championship Trophy and BEng Automotive and Motor Sport Engineering scholarships at City University, London.