With three members of its four members in Year 12, it’s all or nothing for the NSW champion team, which is chasing the school’s first-ever national title at the competition.

F1 in Schools is the world’s largest science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) competition, with more than 20 million students in 40 countries taking part.

Teams are required to design and manufacture a miniature Formula One car to race down a 20-metre track.

The cars, made of balsa wood and weighing about 55 grams, can travel at speeds of up to 80km/h.

But it’s not just about who builds the fastest car – points are also rewarded for specifications, engineering, portfolio, marketing and verbal presentation.

Revolution Racing comprises Year 12 students Liam Whiteley (team manager/design engineer), Connor Minchinton (resource manager), Jack Stephenson (portfolio designer) and Year 11 student Daniel Lambkin (graphics designer).

The team has competed at the national championships for the past two years, placing sixth both times, having qualified via wildcard after finishing second at state level in 2014 and 2015.

After winning the NSW championship for the first time in November, they are confident about their chances of securing the elusive Australian title.

“We are focusing on achieving the best that we can do, improving and achieving industry standards,” Liam said.

Daniel said the team has redesigned their car from scratch, with new materials and methods.

“Hopefully that’s backed up by its performance,” he said.

“You’ve got to try and do something that’s never been used before.”

The boys have visited engineering companies including Nupress, Varley and Teterin, to learn about the processes they use and how they could apply them to the competition.

They have spent several hours at school, almost every weekend and many days during the school holidays working on their preparation for the national championships.

They are proud to be representing their school and the city of Cessnock on the national stage.

“Mount View has a really proud history in this competition,” Daniel said.

“It’s really pleasing to see that if you put the effort in, you can be up there with the top schools.”

Supervising teacher Mark Bassett said the boys have stepped up their game this time around.

“They’re putting in 110 percent this time,” he said.

The national championships will be held in Adelaide from February 26 to March 2, with a visit to the Clipsal 500 as part of the program.

The winners will qualify for the world finals, which will be held in Singapore in September, coinciding with the Formula One Grand Prix.

Check out Revolution Racing’s video presentation below.