Full Blue Racing - 2025 Competition Report

On the morning of Wednesday 16th July 2025, University of Cambridge’s Formula Student Team, Full Blue Racing set off from Cambridge for the 2025 Formula Student UK competition held at the Silverstone race circuit. With them was the FBR25, the evolution of last season’s reliable race car and the result of a year’s worth of upgrades, all focused on enhancing performance without compromising reliability. Formula Student teams compete in both dynamic events, where the car is driven, and static events, where it is assessed while stationary, all of which the team had been preparing for throughout the season. Thousands of hours of work were about to be tested in the span of 5 days.

The team gave more attention in static events compared to previous years, which paid off with some excellent results in Cost and Design. On Friday afternoon, at the Cost Event, FBR were able to tie together multiple long and complex documents containing their Bill of Materials, drawings, designs, and research. However, there was no time to celebrate this achievement as the team were thrown into the Design Event immediately afterwards. In Design, the team leveraged their skills to communicate their profound understanding behind design decisions in a clear and effective manner. This additionally contributed to the overall feeling that the team had performed well, which revealed itself to be accurate for both events.

In fact, out of 58 competing teams, FBR secured 16th in Cost (the second best result in FBR’s history), and 22nd in Design (the best result in history). This was a major improvement over our last FSUK attendance (52nd and 51st respectively out of 63 teams).

As for the dynamic events, the FBR25 featured major upgrades aimed at improving lap time, and the team were confident that if they cleared all stages of scrutineering, the car would perform well on track and deliver a solid points haul. Unfortunately, three gruelling days of technical scrutineering left FBR with minimal time for the remaining inspections, which had to take place before midday on Sunday. The team quickly passed the tilt and noise tests before arriving at the final hurdle: the brake test, on the Sunday morning of Endurance. It was here that FBR encountered their limit. After a few attempts at the brake test and some necessary adjustments to FBR’s brake bias, the engine failed to restart for a final run. As a result, FBR were unable to pass the brake test and could not progress to the dynamic events. Nevertheless, the team took some solace in the fact that, although the car was not permitted to race, it did drive at Silverstone during the brake test and demonstrated strong pace while doing so.

As prospects were high this year, this was inevitably disappointing. However, spirits remained high through the rest of the competition and continue to do so into the summer. FBR now have a clear understanding of what must happen throughout the year to reach the dynamic events. With nearly three times as many talented and skilled individuals remaining on the team, and with strong support from a growing alumni knowledge base, the team is well positioned for success in their next season. Preparations for the FBR26 are already underway, with the goal of having the car running and tested well ahead of the competition to give the team the best possible chance of success.

Finally, Full Blue Racing would like to extend our sincere thanks to our sponsors, whose support makes it possible for us to design, build, and compete with our race car against other universities. Your contributions have been vital to our progress, and we look forward to continuing our partnership as we strive to bring Cambridge University to the top of the Formula Student league tables while providing you with talented graduates ready to make an impact as they go out into industry.

Thank you,

Full Blue Racing