An Indian Formula Student competition

Humans of Formula Bharat

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humansofformulabharat

“My journey began as the ‘marketing guy’ for

“My journey began as the ‘marketing guy’ for my team, even though that was never my original plan. One of the greatest things about being part of a Formula Student team is the opportunity to work across all departments. My role quickly shifted as I found myself more drawn to the technical side. The small tasks you take on as a student, which might seem insignificant at the time, eventually pay off whether in your personal or professional life. I never hesitated to seize any opportunity, no matter which department it came from.

That mindset of making the most out of every opportunity stayed with me long after my time on the team. In 2023, I joined the scrutineering team at Formula Bharat. Working on the organizational side of the event was a completely different experience, giving me fresh insight into how things work both as a student and from the organizer’s perspective. I learned not only from other officials but also from the teams that came to me for scrutineering.

Each team had its own interpretation of the rules, which was eye-opening and helped broaden my understanding. During my time with the team, I had the privilege of attending international FS competitions. The standard of teams in Europe is undoubtedly high they have excellent resources and strong support from their universities. In contrast, many Indian teams struggle with limited resources just to make it to the competition. Unfortunately, I feel that the Formula Student spirit is sometimes lacking in Indian teams. While it’s true we face greater challenges, I’ve noticed that we often become so focused on competing that we forget to have fun and engage in the true spirit of Formula Student, seeing other teams as competitors instead of collaborators.”

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(2/2) “Formula Student has been instrumental in

(2/2)

“Formula Student has been instrumental in shaping the engineer I am today and has significantly influenced my career at Ather. The experience I gained through FS has deeply impacted my thought process at work. Whenever we face a challenging situation, I think about corrective actions and consider the potential consequences of failure. We don’t shy away from failure because if something does fail, it validates our simulations and boosts our confidence. This mindset, developed during my time with the FS team, continues to guide me.

Claude’s saying resonates with me: “if you go to the best engineering schools, students know how to calculate the stress on a bolt, but they don’t know which direction to turn it to tighten.” This highlights the crucial difference between traditional classroom learning and the practical experience of Formula Student. Both skills are equally important.”

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(1/2) “One evening, while cycling around the II

(1/2)

“One evening, while cycling around the IIT Madras campus, I heard a loud noise that sounded like a powerful engine. I saw a vehicle approaching and glanced at it. Although it was just a space frame and chassis with four wheels, I could tell it was a vehicle. Three students were operating it for the first time: one was sitting in the car, another was managing the throttle and trying to control the engine, and the third, I don’t quite remember. This was my introduction to Formula Student, the team, and the competition. Given my passion for hands-on work, joining Raftaar Formula Racing was an obvious choice for me.

The first issue we faced was that our uprights were heavy, making the car heavy. We had a 600cc engine, and the car had just been to FSUK. We decided to downsize the engine to 250cc and reduce the car’s weight accordingly for the next season. The real challenge was figuring out how to reduce the weight. I took up the challenge and focused on the car’s uprights, which weighed three and a half kilograms per wheel at the time. I had a crazy idea to make them out of sheet metal, as it’s lighter and the shape seemed suitable. I managed to reduce the weight from three and a half kilograms to 800 grams. Although the first iteration didn’t work, I made some adjustments, eventually bringing the weight up to a kilo. I had to switch from sheet metal to casting because, while designing in CAD can seem straightforward, manufacturing revealed that every weld is a weak joint. This was my first lesson on the team and where I began my journey.”

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“When I was a student, I often wondered how the

“When I was a student, I often wondered how the scrutineers came to take on their roles at events. I was curious about what it was like to be on the other side. After college, I joined Bosch professionally, and the opportunity presented itself in an unexpected way. Bosch, being a sponsor of Formula Bharat, asked if we wanted to get involved with the event. Naturally, I seized the chance, and here I am, it has been five years since I became a scrutineer at Formula Bharat.

I vividly remember being part of the student team, feeling hesitant and afraid to approach the scrutineers. We always thought they were extremely strict and unapproachable. Now, as a scrutineer myself, I know for certain that we are the most approachable people on the track. We might come across as strict because our main goal is to adhere to the rules and ensure safety on the track, preventing accidents.

Being on the other side of the event has also benefited me professionally. I recall an instance in 2022 when I inspected a team and was impressed by their annual addition of new features to their vehicle. This innovation triggered my professional role as part of the R&D team, motivating us to consider what the market currently needs. These new developments and designs are what drive me to return to the event each year. If you want to stay updated on market trends and new technologies, Formula Bharat is the place to be.”

#formulabharat #humansofformulabharat #formulastudent #formulastudentindia

“Back in college, I was part of the Shell Eco-Ma

“Back in college, I was part of the Shell Eco-Marathon team, and we frequently engaged in knowledge sharing with our sister team, Camber Racing, a Formula Student team. I grew fond of FS then, so when I learned about Formula Bharat, I randomly looked up the website, hoping to visit as a spectator. To my luck, I stumbled upon the volunteering opportunity with FB. The rest is history. I applied to volunteer in 2019 as a tech inspector and have been with the team ever since.

Right after graduation, I got a job at an automotive company. The experience of working on a student project always stays with you. The technical challenges at work add up, but what helped me equally were the managerial skills I learned at Formula Bharat. The event taught me that managerial skills are just as important as technical skills.”

#formulabharat #humansofformulabharat #formulastudent #formulastudentindia

(2/2) “What keeps me coming back to the Formula

(2/2)

“What keeps me coming back to the Formula Student community? I enjoy working with the students. They are a fun group, and I appreciate how seriously they take my comments—sometimes a bit too seriously. I often tell them to use stress analysis to reduce the car’s weight, not just to prove that their design won’t break. I’d say, ‘Every piece of metal in the car should turn red for at least one loading condition.’ They would all nod, and I repeated this for a few years.

When I returned the next year, one team showed me a stress map of their part, and it was all red. They had changed the color scale. They remembered my advice and, perhaps as a bit of a joke, altered the color scale to meet my criteria. I was impressed that they remembered my words, even though they took a creative approach to achieve it.”

#formulastudentindia #formulastudent #formulabharat #humansofformulabharat

(1/2) “At one point, I was a faculty advisor f

(1/2)

“At one point, I was a faculty advisor for three teams: two Baja teams and one Formula Student team. I believe it’s crucial to avoid making the student project your own project. A pragmatic reason is that students will stay up all night working on their car, not yours. If the advisor takes over, students may resist working on it rather than embracing it. They need to live the experience.

In 2012, my team decided to start building carbon fiber tubs. I was hesitant, considering factors like cost, schedule, and technology. I told the team captain that the tub would weigh as much as the steel space frame. He acknowledged this but emphasized that he wanted the team to learn a new skill and hoped future members would benefit and improve upon it. He was right, and so was I—the first tub weighed as much as the steel space frame, but it got lighter every year. That car evolved into a 4-cylinder carbon car weighing 180 kilograms. Had I been more focused on the present and said no, they wouldn’t have achieved what they did. Remembering that it’s a student-led team, you have to let them follow their vision.”

#formulastudent #formulabharat #formulastudentindia

“The best team work would involve “communicati

“The best team work would involve “communication”. As in great communication among each other, because once you lose communication, everyone starts doing things for themselves and not for the team, so having communication is a major thing. Secondly, for me it would be “sharing of knowledge”. Passing down whatever knowledge you have, because it happens many times that one person gains particular knowledge and they keep this knowledge to themselves, which should not be a thing when you are working in a team. Because if the other person doesn’t know what that is, it won’t help them debug whatever issue they face. These two are the main things.

Even if you don’t have these skills, you can still develop them. That’s the thing but it’s all about time in the end, but communication is the major thing. How did I start appreciating these qualities? It’s because my team does possess these qualities and that’s why I appreciate them.”

#humansofformulabharat #hofb #formulabharat #formulastudent #formulastudentindia

“We as a team faced some issues with the managem

“We as a team faced some issues with the management part. However, this time we have better team management regarding the recruitment session because the team was just formed back in 2021. We soon realised that team management is the most important thing for a team because if the management is not there then there’s no point in making a team and competing in competitions. But good team management can lead us to a much higher level of success; it will provide for much higher chances of winning competitions.

Also it is important to explain all the new members of the team that we recruit, like how the team works which was the main point of focus since it was not followed previously as we did not have proper management and a process as such for operating the team.”

#humansofformulabharat #hofb #formulabharat #formulastudent #formulastudentindia

"You must take ownership of this car. If it is suc

"You must take ownership of this car. If it is successful and wins an event, you will be responsible for its success. Failure will be your responsibility as well." These were the words of our seniors while we were preparing for Formula Bharat 2019. I wouldn't say our performance was remarkable. Our technical inspection was challenging, and once we cleared it we couldn't pass the brake test until the final day.

At Veloce Racing, we have a checklist. We test our car for 400 kilometers before shipping it to any event. During a test drive, I saw the car running. In my opinion, we had built a car that could compete on the track. Sadly, we were unable to pass the brake test. I had a hard time digesting it. Later, we realized we had been testing the car incorrectly. Basically, a component failure caused the issue, which wasn't major. When we fixed the issue that landed us in 17th place in FB2019, we pulled up our socks and finished second in FB2020. We incorporated another set of checklists based on our takeaways from previous years. We conduct a quick mechanical inspection before any type of testing and only then proceed."

#humansofformulabharat #hofb #formulabharat #formulastudent #formulastudentindia #formulaindia

“My university had already discontinued the Form

“My university had already discontinued the Formula Student team when I joined because of the previous team's unsatisfactory performance. In 2018, a batchmate and I discussed the possibility of relaunching the team. Considering the team's history, convincing the faculty was a challenging task. However, we assured them that we would give our maximum effort and would leave no stone unturned. Following some deliberation, they agreed. Our team began looking for sponsorship immediately, but we were unable to locate any. As a result, we decided we would work on our car religiously for a year and then participate in the season after that.

For Supra 2019, our car was damaged during transport. Considering we were all freshers in the team, we were unaware of the steps that needed to be taken in order to transport the vehicle safely and efficiently. The suspension system and A-arms were seriously damaged due to a lack of awareness that caused us not to disassemble the car before transport. During the event, we attempted to repair the damaged parts, but the results were not as satisfactory as expected. Following Supra 2019, the entire team worked around the clock to fix the areas that needed fixing ahead of Formula Bharat 2020. Our team tried its best to clear the Technical Inspection at FB2020, but unfortunately, we weren't able to do so. This event was our last hope to continue the team, so some team members were in tears after hearing the news. The team had to be discontinued due to a lack of funds and university support in 2020.”

#humansofformulabharat #hofb #formulabharat #formulastudent #formulastudentindia #formulaindia

“My dad taught me, mechanics, even before I stud

“My dad taught me, mechanics, even before I studied mechanical engineering. We would go to the lake and he would teach me how to fix his motorcycle. In the midst of a lockdown, his teachings enabled me to repair one of our motorcycles that had not worked in five years. The two of us worked together and fixed it all by ourselves, and now we use it for small chores around the house.

The decision to join a Formula Student team was a no-brainer for me since my parents were extremely supportive. It was more critical for them that I had practical engineering knowledge rather than theoretical knowledge. In my opinion, it is also imperative to have a strong academic background. In order to succeed both theoretically and practically, you need to be able to manage your time. My experience as a Formula Student has helped me to become a better engineer today. Consider joining a Formula Student team if you are interested in developing your holistic engineering skills.”

#humansofformulabharat #hofb #formulabharat #formulastudent #formulastudentindia #formulaindia

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