At the university’s Headington campus, over 100 students are hard at work building this year’s fastest and most efficiently designed race car for the Formula Student competition.

Oxford Brookes Racing (OBR) has earned a reputation as the UK’s leading Formula Student team. The team has secured more design awards than any other British university and consistently achieves top positions in the international event.

Yet the importance of the competition extends far beyond Silverstone, where it is held annually. With numerous alumni now working across Formula One teams, strong performances in Formula Student often serve as a launchpad into the professional motorsport industry, where highly sought-after engineering roles can attract more than 10,000 applicants.

“A lot of the coverage on TV focuses on the drivers, but rarely on the engineers,” explained Thomas Cawdery, a third-year motorsports technology student and team manager. “These are the people who actually make it happen in Formula One, and you don’t see them on screen.”

According to The Guardian, the team is entirely student-run. In two dedicated buildings, one can observe a hive of activity: in one room, students carefully cut and shape a carbon fibre chassis by hand; in another, the heat from computers running advanced simulations makes the air stifling. Across ages and experience levels, students are constantly teaching and learning from one another.

While actual Formula One cars have far more power, the complexity of OBR’s vehicles is comparable. “In terms of engineering intricacy, they are as complex, if not more so, than Formula One cars,” said Cawdery.

OBR’s cars can also perform certain feats that F1 machines are prohibited from attempting, such as torque vectoring. This technology allows each wheel to be powered individually, aiding cornering, traction, and wet-weather handling.

In some areas, OBR surpasses industry norms. For instance, the team boasts a significantly better gender balance than most professional motorsport outfits, where women typically comprise just over 10% of engineers.

Emma Deery, a first-year mechanical engineering student, works on sanding components while motorsport footage plays on a nearby television. “In the professional industry, many women often find themselves as the only female on the team,” she said. “Here, it’s different. We have many women, including in leadership roles, which is really encouraging.”

Despite having only a fraction of the size and budget of a Formula One team, Formula Student consistently draws attention from top industry names. As the legendary former team principal Ross Brawn once noted, “There are two truly innovative forms of motorsport left. One is Formula One, and the other is Formula Student.”

The OBR team is preparing to compete for the top spot this summer, with 103 teams from 27 countries listed in the preliminary entry. Robin Bailes, a Mercedes engineer and former OBR participant, highlighted the competition’s value. “Some of the engineering solutions produced by these teams are extremely advanced,” he said. “Formula Student’s open rules encourage innovation in ways you often don’t see in traditional motorsport.”

Being based in the region nicknamed ‘Motorsport Valley’ also provides advantages. Oxford Brookes students are about an hour from the headquarters of major F1 teams, including Red Bull, McLaren, Alpine, Mercedes-AMG, Cadillac, TGR Haas, Williams, and Aston Martin. This proximity allows students to conduct test runs at Silverstone during lunch breaks and to maintain close connections with parts suppliers, who serve both student teams and professional Formula One operations.

Sébastien Cavedon, OBR’s operations manager, relocated from Switzerland to pursue a master’s in motorsport engineering and join the team. “Coming from a country where motorsport isn’t such a big deal, moving here where it’s hugely popular has been life changing,” he said.

Oxford Brookes Racing’s combination of innovation, skill, and teamwork demonstrates why Formula Student has become one of the most significant stepping stones into professional motorsport.