Students work as a team to manufacture, develop, test, and then compete against other teams at Formula Student events. All of this has to be done within a limited budget and to strict safety guidelines.

The cars should be open wheeled, open cockpit, single-seater style and all teams are to assume that they have been engaged by a manufacturing firm to produce a prototype car for evaluation as a production item. The car must possess the following characteristics:

• High performance
• Low cost
• Easy to maintain
• Reliable
• Suitable for mass production (1000 cars a year)

The UK event takes place in July every year at Silverstone and includes various events spread over 3 days, ranging from design and business plan presentations to on-track evaluation in the form of acceleration, cornering and endurance time trials. In previous years, the Loughborough Formula Student team have also competed in Germany, Czech Republic and Austria.

Unlike some Formula Student teams, LU Motorsport is entirely organised and run by the students, with guidance from academic and technical staff only when required. This means that the team is not only responsible for producing a brand new car every year, but also all finances, health and safety and the business side of running a motorsport team.

Team members study a wide variety of degrees including Automotive Engineering, Finance and Business Management courses.