Revealed: UK’s big spending 2023 Formula Student teams
As the Formula Student 2024 season comes to a close, The Asterisk reveals the UK's top spending teams of 2023.
Sussex Racing topped UK universities for the highest expenditure in Formula Student 2023, an exclusive analysis by The Asterisk has revealed.
The University of Sussex’s Sussex Racing spent nearly £120,000 in 2023 for the Formula Student (FS) competition in Silverstone, according to the latest data obtained through Freedom of Information requests by The Asterisk. The expenditure was the highest compared to other UK teams that provided financial data and participated in the ‘FS Class’ event, where student-led teams design, build, and race formula-style cars.
Sussex Racing did not respond for comment.
Brunel Racing of Brunel University London came in second with an expenditure of £85,324.
In third, Oxford Brookes University’s Oxford Brookes Racing (OBR) spent nearly £50,000. The exact figure is not known.
Oxford Brookes University stated that the team spends approximately £40,000 on car equipment, components, and materials fees. £2,280 was spent on last year’s ‘FS Class’ entry fee. Accommodation fees incurred by students and other costs would firmly place OBR in third.
Liverpool John Moores University’s LJMU e-Racing Team ranked last. The team’s spending was nearly 8% that of Sussex Racing.
“Funding for the LJMU Racing Team can vary from year to year depending on the stage of vehicle development and requests from the team,” an LJMU spokesperson told The Asterisk.
“All funding requests for 2023 were granted and expenditure was lower as a consequence of the significant level of investment in the previous years.
“In 2023, students once again had invaluable opportunities to gain industry experience, develop their skills and compete at events.”
What about the other UK teams?
40 UK universities took part in the ‘FS Class’ event last year.
Of these, several teams provided only figures for funding allocated by the university.
Three universities chose not to reveal any financial data, citing trade secrets and commercial interests: University of Bath (Team Bath Racing Electric), University of Birmingham (UBRacing), and University of Nottingham (University of Nottingham Racing Team).
“Disclosing this type of information is likely to prejudice the university’s ability to compete effectively and fairly in the highly competitive higher education market and would provide commercial intelligence to other competitor organisations,” said University of Birmingham (UoB).
“The way in which the university racing team is funded is one of the factors that distinguish the university’s racing team from its competitors.
“Disclosing specific details of university funding, sponsorship, and a breakdown of expenditure would likely negatively impact our team's ability to renew these sponsorships and attract new ones, thereby disadvantaging our team. This would then impact the team’s ability to compete and perform in the future,” it added.
The University of Wolverhampton (UWR Formula Student) only revealed the funding allocated to the team.
“Disclosing expenses would publicly release financial information that exposes unit costs paid by the University for contracted services, some of which may include potential business secrets,” said University of Wolverhampton.
Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU Racing), University of Aberdeen (TAU Racing), University of Exeter (XRacing), University of Glasgow (UGRacing), and University of Salford (Salford Racing) did not provide financial data because these teams operated under their respective student unions.
“As a student union is not a ‘public authority,’ our records are not covered by Freedom of Information and therefore cannot be requested,” said University of Exeter.
Staffordshire University (Staffordshire Uni Racing), University of Cambridge (Full Blue Racing), University of the West of England (UWE Formula Student), University of Derby (Team Derby Motorsport), and University of Manchester (Manchester Stinger Motorsports) said that they did not hold the information.
Coventry University (Coventry University Phoenix Racing) provided no data.
University of Hertfordshire (UH Racing) and University of Sheffield (Sheffield Formula Racing) did not respond to FoI requests.
Incidentally, 10 of the 15 teams that did not respond or provided partial data finished in the top 30 of the competition’s overall standings.