The F1 Club is Off to a ‘Roaring’ Start

Nora Aljazzar and Stephanie Hwang | 63 Views

Formula One club founder and junior Keerthana Pillai recaps F1 competitions and their drivers to club members to open up discussions about them amongst one another. “We’re just like reading and yapping about different things,” Pillai said. “I think that’s really nice because there aren’t as many F1 fans as there are basketball fans or NFL fans, so it’s nice to have a space specifically for that sport where we can talk about it with other people who are interested in it.”

As the popularity of Formula One racing has surged in the last couple of years, Portola High has witnessed a growing enthusiasm for the sport among its student body. In 2023, club founder and junior Keerthana Pillai took notice of the growing traction of F1 and established the school’s first F1 club to provide a platform for fans and newcomers alike to engage with the high-speed sport through the F1 in Schools engineering competition.

The F1 In Schools competition enables students to showcase their engineering skills as they design and race their miniature cars in an official setting. This initiative allows students to collaborate in teams to design and build miniature F1 cars, blending creativity with engineering principles. Participants gain valuable experience that can pave the way for careers in STEM, according to Pillai.

“I’ve been into F1 for about six months now because of my friend,” club member and freshman Jayden Ki said. “I thought I’d just join so I could find people that like F1, just like me, and I heard about the F1 In Schools project.”

F1 features 20 drivers competing across 10 teams in a series of high-stakes races. Although F1 has more fans than it did in the past, the sport still does not have a large community, which can make it hard for F1 fans to find others to talk to, according to Pillai. In addition to discussing the F1 races and competitions, the club members will also write about their thoughts.

“We have weekly meetings after each race on Mondays where we discuss about what happened in the race,” co-president and junior Aryush Aravind said. “Then, we also are going to do some writing things where we write about what happened in each Formula One race weekend and important news highlights.

As the club continues to grow, it aims to strengthen the community of F1 fans at Portola High and start helping students with their designs for the F1 in Schools submissions.

“It opens up a lot of opportunities for various careers,” club member and freshman Bing Liu said. “I think it’s really interesting.”

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About the Contributors

Nora Aljazzar, Staff Writer

Nora Aljazzar is a staff writer for her first year on the Portola Pilot. Ready to start off her sophomore year growing as a journalist, Nora is determined to make an impact during her time working on the Portola Pilot this year. When Nora isn’t enjoying a good book, she likes to spend quality time with her family or watch sitcoms with her sister.

Stephanie Hwang, Co-News Editor

Stephanie Hwang is the Co-News Editor for her second year on the Portola Pilot. This year, she hopes to juggle the delicate balance between APs and her Pilot duties. When she’s not impulsively signing up for 7 stories, you can find her pranking Marianne with silly stickers or trying to reach a new high score on Crossy Road (it’s 350 right now).