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It was some way to find out. From one world champion to the next world champions effectively. But as Lewis Hamilton left for the stage to announce the winners of the best-engineered car at the F1 in Schools competition in London last month, he said to the Koni Kats team from St David's in Greystones "see you in a minute".
Whether Hamilton actually knew is now irrelevant. Because it proved to be the second of three awards the school won that night, following best presentation and preceding – most important of all – the overall prize.
The St David's team – comprised of Sean Cleary, Conor Daly, Adam Gammell and Eoin O'Connell – were representing Ireland as national champions in a by-now prestigious and global competition which required them to design and build a scaled-down version of a Formula One car. But it wasn't just a race to first place. The boys also had to mimic all the work of a mainstream F1 team, from mechanics right up to marketing and sponsorship.
And they evidently did a pretty impressive impersonation. As what arguably marks them apart more than even the three trophies won, the plaudits earned, the unique design or perfect portfolios is the fact that, at one stage during the competition, a Jaguar official walked up to their display with a colleague and pointed out a specific technique that could be perhaps taken for the future. The masters learning from the supposed apprentices.
The victory was all the more rewarding as it was the culmination of two years' work – with some help from teachers Tom Reynolds and Triona Brosnan – eventually resulting in them powering their model down a track at speeds of up to 250km when scaled up to actual size. And all the sweeter given the competition they were up against. From a co-educational school in north Wicklow, the Koni Kats had raised all their own money yet were up against schools who had pumped all sorts of resources – both intellectual and financial – into the competition.
Since one Australian engineering company actually sponsors and works with schools who enter the competition, their assumed dominance is reflected in the fact they dominated the top places. But crucially not the places that mattered. As Reynolds now proudly says, "our boys had done their homework better".
Evidently. As one of the aspects of their project that no doubt helped clinch the prize was their willingness to innovate. They designed an entirely new type of wheel for their model only to find the cost prohibitive. It was included in the portfolio though and the judges were impressed by such inspiration added to perspiration.
As to what's next for the Koni Kats, well each of them has already been offered a scholarship to London City University. There is the small matter of their Leaving Cert in seven months' time first but all admit the competition has definitely given them clearer goals and all have expressed a willingness to work in Formula One in the future. They've certainly shown a real capability to. Hamilton undoubtedly agrees.
Any Irish schools looking to take part in the next version of the national competition, log onto www.F1inschools.ie
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