Gary Anderson head judge for F1 in Schools

The F1 in Schools scheme has announced that Northern Ireland's Gary Anderson, the semi-retired car designer who has previously worked for the Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar Formula 1 teams, will be at the forefront of this year's Chair of Judges.

Anderson left the Formula 1 paddock full-time at the end of 2003 following two seasons with Jordan, which in-turn came after almost eight seasons with the Silverstone-based squad between 1991 and 1998 plus time with Milton Keynes' Stewart/Jaguar outfit between 1998 and 2000.

The finals in Singapore will see school finalists from across 18 countries competing for various trophies presented by the F1 teams plus the main gong, the Bernie Ecclestone World Champions trophy, to the winners.

“I’m keen to have a hands-on role in this F1 in Schools World Finals and to see for myself the quality of work which these students are producing and the efforts that they are all putting into designing and building their own miniature race cars," said Anderson, with the model cars being made from balsa wood and powered by a single compressed air cylinder.

“I’m sure that it will be no different to the real world of Formula 1, with teams looking closely at the interpretation of the rules to find any competitive advantage – we just need to make sure they stay within the boundaries that are set!"