Last July, Formula Trinity headed to Silverstone for the biggest Formula Student event of the year, Formula Student UK (FSUK). Countless student teams from all over the world camped in a designated field outside the circuit for a week, bringing the fruit of a hard year of work — a car entirely designed and built by them — to be tested and scrutinised with the hopes of getting on track to compete. Formula Trinity had just launched Bruce, their fourth generation car: an incredible project into which over 150 students had poured their hard work and passion for engineering.
The first few days over the course of the week were dedicated to the project’s presentation and static scrutineering. The Business and Operations Team delivered static presentations to the judges at FSUK, after which the Autonomous (AI) Internal Combustion (IC) Teams could proceed to get Bruce scrutineered. The static testing consisted of six stages to make sure cars were safe for racing: had the tests all been cleared, you could then compete on track for the dynamic events, the Sprint and Endurance races, which happened over the course of the weekend.
Heading to Silverstone, Formula Trinity could already pride itself on the hard work put in during the year to bring Bruce to life. Ellena Huang, Chief Operating Officer in the Business and Operations Team, and a member of last year’s IC Team as Chassis Lead, told the University Times that “for the IC Team, it was the first [time] that we built a whole car in a year, so that was a really big thing for [us]. We also managed to secure a team workshop, whereas previously we were just working out of whatever the team captains […] had […] at home.”
Unfortunately, once at Silverstone, Formula Trinity only passed three of the six stages of static scrutineering (failing two due to an engine problem), so the IC Team didn’t make it on track for the competition. Nevertheless, being there with all the other teams and taking part in the scrutineering was already an extremely rewarding experience, Ellena recounts. “It’s always good to go to competitions and talk to the other teams, you get so much inspiration. Over the competition, we were one of the lower-budget teams, so seeing what other teams are able to come up with, different designs and concepts, it’s really, really cool.”
If the IC Team faced a little disappointment, Formula Trinity still managed to come away with significant results, thanks to the AI Team’s incredible performance: they finished in first place in Real World AI, fourth place in Track Drive, and fifth place overall.
For any Formula 1 aficionado, getting to compete at Silverstone makes the experience all the more magical. “Two years ago, with our last car [Bella] which actually made it on track, it was super cool, like a surreal experience,” Ellena says. “Also, when you’re at Silverstone, there’s so many different companies and F1 teams that are there as well, ‘cause they know that a lot of the students that are on these teams are obviously interested in this, and they have a passion for it.” Yet, perhaps more than the “cool” factor and awe one feels being in such a famed place and surrounded by such big names, the most rewarding part is the team bonding that happens over the week. Sharing all the joy from the achievements and disappointment from the failures with your friends and colleagues makes for an indelible experience — and Formula Trinity can be deservedly proud of what they have accomplished at FSUK 2026, though knowing that more can be done still.
Now, the team for this year is already working on the new car. The IC Team has started the design process for the new chassis, and are looking at the manufacturing; all departments are working hard to improve on last year’s result, and fix what went wrong. “We’re just hoping to make it on track, and hopefully complete the endurance [race], which would be the first time the team has done so,” Ellena says.
Whether the new car will follow the naming convention of its predecessors (Betsie, Bertie, Bella, and Bruce) remains to be seen. “We can only name the car in the second half of second semester, and it’s kind of just like what naturally happens, so for Bruce we went with “Shark Team” [for the team name], and then we named the car “Bruce” after the shark in “Finding Nemo”. Whatever its name may be, we are looking forward to meeting the new car at the end of this academic year and seeing it shine at FSUK 2027.
