South Asians at Formula Student UK 2023 competition

The 25th Formula Student UK competition was held on 19th-23rd July at the iconic Silverstone race circuit. In the two classes at the competition — Formula Student Class and Concept Class — there were a few South Asian teams among the mix. One such team is the Formula Electric Racing team from Pakistan Navy Engineering College, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST).

FERN started in 2016 and competed in the Formula Student USA (FSAE USA) competition, followed by FS UK in 2018. 2020 and 2021 were slightly different as the pandemic restrictions meant they could only compete in virtual competitions. Alongside competing in Formula Student, FERN also works on other projects for companies that sponsor them. Notably, they have worked with Unilever Pakistan, HBS, and Wavetec. 

This year’s FS UK competition was the first in-person one they attended in 5 years, which the team’s manager, Ali Kashif Rasool, described as a surreal and eye-opening experience since they got to meet many of the other Formula Student teams from around the world as well as learn from them. He also added that despite not having the best technological or monetary resources, FERN — as well as other South Asian teams — always put their best foot forward and go the extra mile when needed. 

Talking about the competition, Ali mentioned that the toughest part of competing in the UK was the travel! What made it tough was the fact that no one was expecting it to be so gruelling. However, the warmth with which everyone at the competition welcomed them trumped the troubles. This was also something the team was anxious about since they didn’t know how the other teams, judges, and scrutineers would see them after only competing virtually for the past few years. Ali added that the judges and scrutineers were extremely considerate and supportive, especially after hearing about the struggles they had to go through with the shipping of the car they developed for the competition.

Despite the time allowed to develop the car for these Formula Student teams, a major aspect that teams from outside Europe need to consider while competing in FS UK is the time it takes to ship their cars. When asked about the logistics, Ali said that they only had seven months out of the usual nine to develop and test the car since it takes a good two months to ship it to the UK. Another obstacle is that the team is essentially made up of students, making it harder to figure out how to get their competing car shipped off at the right time. 

While these could make or break an entry, FERN safely got their car to Silverstone and ended up as the only South Asian team to become one of the finalists at the Cost & Manufacturing event. Speaking about this, Ali said that they were very surprised since they didn’t think they could make it that far. He went on to say that it was a big boost for the team as Formula Student is one of those environments that leads to engineers from these South Asian teams getting into F2 or F3 and working with those teams.

Besides talking about his team, Ali spoke highly of fellow South Asian competitors from IIT-Bombay, who participated in the Concept Class of Formula Student UK 2023. With a driverless competition category which neither team has taken part yet, Ali said that both FERN and IIT-Bombay are working on developing one in the future, despite not having many resources to help along the way. What they do have is the willpower to show themselves and others that South Asian teams are just as capable of developing cars that are on par with those developed by European teams. Ali also talked about his hope to bring a competition like Formula Student to Pakistan, similar to Formula Bharat since it allows the teams to compete in the same country as they develop the cars, cutting the shipment times and extending development times.

At the end of the Formula Student event at Silverstone, FERN placed 5th in the Cost & Manufacturing event, 9th in the Business Plan Presentation event, and 10th in the Lap Time Simulation event. This resulted in the team placing 22nd overall, marking a successful return of the team to Silverstone. 

To wrap it up, Ali was asked about the best part of being on the FERN team, to which he replied, “Being on the team!” Engineering was not always his forte, but finding FERN in his first year allowed him to grow professionally and personally as it became a part of their lives. With a particular goal in sight and aims to achieve, the team consists of people with the same mindset, which has brought them closer and made them really good friends.