Teams competing in Formula Student 2013 will already be constructing their vehicles. Here, design judge Owen Carless outlines the critical design issues which define how the cars perform.

There were some very high and very close scores this year, demonstrating the impressive level of work the high scoring teams are putting in. The quality of the folders and cost sheets has improved considerably over the last few years for all teams.

Several things impressed the Design judges this year. First was the high standard of “virgin” entries from new universities; second was the comprehensive understanding and depth of research and knowledge of the very top teams that made the Design Final.

New teams and experienced teams both make simple mistakes and throw away easy marks in Business Presentation. Here are 10 of the most common mistakes, and how you can avoid them.

Many of you reading this will now have completed cars and will be driving them in anger for the first time. Hopefully after reading this you’ll be ensuring testing is done safely, making the most from the data gathered, and will avoid any unnecessary surprises during competitions.

Some Design Reports are mediocre and some are woeful, even though a team with a poor Design Report is unlikely to get a good score in the design competition.

Fastenings have to be the number one ‘easy’ thing that teams fail on when they come to scrutineering. In most cases it’s an issue that can be resolved quickly, but that half an hour spent looking over the car is precious time wasted.

In this first article I’m going to try and address the most fundamental of questions asked of the Design Judges, namely where do you start when designing a car?!

Welcome to the very first post of the Learn To Win blog. Here we'll be offering hints and tips from some of our senior judges on every aspect of Formula Student, from the Business Presentation to Scrutineering.