The F1 in Schools Technology Challenge is the world's largest secondary school technology program, with more than 20 million students in 40 countries taking part.

The school team, dubbed Ascension, is made up of Year 11 students Billie Taylor, Ben Galvin, Tobias Astill-King, Harley Patterson and Fei Fei Webster.

The team's graphic designer Ben said the team had spent 10 weeks preparing for the national competition - averaging about five or more hours a week.

"We went though a process of three stages; a regional, state and national competition. We managed to come first in our division at the regional and state competitions and second in the nationals," he said.

"It was incredible. We are the first team from our school to place on a podium position at the national finals."

Teams design and manufacture a miniature Formula One car to race down a 20-metre track, and are also judged on their specifications, engineering, portfolio, marketing and verbal presentation.

Fei Fei said the competition also opened up career opportunities for particpants, and the team were thrilled to make it this far.

"F1 in Schools is so large in what it can cater to. We are very nervous but excited about going to Abu Dhabi," he said.

The team also took out five other awards at the competition including best engineered car, best team portfolio, best visual design and best managed enterprise.

The formula 1 enthusiasts will travel to Abu Dhabi in November for the international championships.

"It's truly incredible where this competition is taking us, considering we are 16-year-olds making toy cars," Ben added.

The Ascension team will collaborate with the third place team from Penrith Christian School over the next six months on the lead up to the competition.

The team is also seeking sponsorship for their trip, and ask anyone who can help to contact supervising teacher Mark Bassett at Mount View High School on 4990 2566 or visit Ascension's Facebook page.