Irish eyes were smiling for Team FUGA from Coleraine Academical Institution, Northern Ireland, as they lifted the Bernie Ecclestone trophy and were crowned F1 in School World Champions in Melbourne, Australia.

Jonathan Steen, David Anderson, Aimal Khan, Philip Taylor and Alistair Adams, all 18 years old, fought off the intense competition in this global student technology challenge, beating 17 teams from nations in Australia, Europe, Asia, America and the Middle East to lift the title and win coveted Automotive Engineering degree scholarships at The City University, London.

Formula One supremo, Bernie Ecclestone, presented the new F1 in Schools World Champions with the Bernie Ecclestone Trophy at the Melbourne Formula One Grand Prix. The Team FUGA students were thrilled to be able to meet Ecclestone and to be presented with the award by its benefactor, a supporter of the initiative who granted the use of the F1 logo and generously donated the trophy.

Team FUGA also won the Fastest Car Award, smashing last year's Malaysian team world record set at 1.083 seconds, with a 1.02 seconds run, and shared the honours for Best Engineered Car with the 'DASHA – the Eagle' team from Melbourne, Australia.

Second and third places on the F1 in Schools podium were taken by two all-girl student teams. Team Lightning from Blairgowrie High School, Scotland were runners-up to the Irish. Although the girls weren't able to take home the Bernie Ecclestone Trophy, fellow Scot Sir Jackie Stewart made this prize extra special for the team, inviting them into the hallowed F1 paddock, giving them a guided tour of the Williams F1 Team garage and introducing the girls to a host of F1 stars, including David Coulthard, Anthony Davidson and Jenson Button. The girls were also able to collect autographs from their F1 heroes, with Fernando Alonso signing their F1 in Schools race car.

Mercurial Aces from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, Malaysia took third position overall in these World Championships. The team also won the Team Sportsmanship award, loaning a spare set of model car wheels to the Canadian contingent who, on arriving in Australia, found that some of their luggage was lost en route, which included the all-important 'rubber' for racing.

Tanza Knights, a team from Stellenbosch High School, South Africa took the Best Sponsorship and marketing award, with Best Newcomer being presented to C2 from Woburn C.I. School in Canada and the Collaborative Team trophy was awarded to Team Hybrid, a joint initiative from Lochgelly High School, Scotland and East Cobb Middle School, USA.

The Innovative Thinking Award was presented to Friesen-Design, a team from Germany, for their specially developed wheels which used two different materials in efforts to reduce weight and increase the speed of their car.

ESP Scorpions from Hong Kong, unable to attend this year's event, competed in the World Champions as a 'Virtual Team', taking part via video internet link to present their entry, talking to the judges via phone and having other teams racing their car which they had sent to Melbourne. This commitment earned the team a special award for 'Perseverance in the face of Adversity'.

The F1 in Schools Technology Challenge is contested in 20 countries around the world, with 6 million students participating in the competition. Each team were successful in their national final to book their places in the World Championship held in Melbourne, Australia this week to coincide with the Formula One Australian Grand Prix also being held in the city. This unique student challenge in which schoolchildren aged 11 to 18 use CAD/CAM software to design, build and test a model CO2-powered balsa wood F1 car of the future is in its third year of World Championship competition.