The current Formula Student has its origins in the early 1980s at the University of Texas in Austin, United States. It was born as Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) and later evolved into what is now known as Formula Student, bringing together single-seater racing projects under a specific set of regulations.
The university environment is the cradle of this initiative, channeling one of the greatest ambitions of engineering students: putting into practice everything they learn in the classroom in a tangible way — and for that, nothing better than competition.
Designing, producing, manufacturing and competing in a viable way is the objective. Framed within strict rules, these student-built single-seaters line up on the starting grid at every event.
Europe hosts this discipline year after year. Great Britain and Germany are considered the reference, but Spain also has a strong presence in this movement. The Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló hosts, from August 21st to 26th, one of the calendar events .
International university teams meet to be evaluated in two categories: Static events, which score areas such as design, cost analysis, and the business plan (showing how team components interact), and Dynamic events, where tests such as skidpad (figure-eight handling), acceleration, autocross (timed), endurance, and efficiency are assessed.
Each team's challenge is to prove itself — to see if they can work together toward a shared goal. Automotive brands closely follow Formula Student and keep an eye on emerging talent. It is very common for former students to be recruited into professional design and development departments, marking a major step in their career path.
NG Brakes has been collaborating for many years with this discipline. We provide different university teams with the appropriate brake discs for their prototypes. For us, it is a valuable source of information and feedback, essential for the development and testing of our products.
« I never stop being impressed each year by the amount of talent shown by Formula Student competitors. »
- Ross Brawn, current Formula 1 Sporting Director, former FS Patron, Mercedes AMG and Petronas F1 Team
