Formula 1: Denbigh schoolgirl Libby Chapman has designs on F1 career

A 14-year-old girl's dreams of working in Formula 1 racing received a boost after she and three friends competed in an F1-inspired event in Abu Dhabi.

Libby Chapman was part of a school team from Denbighshire which competed against teams from around the globe to design a high-performance model car.

And she was one of 10 attendees offered a place at a specialist academy after the F1 in Schools world finals.

"When they said my name, I didn't believe it," she said.

More than 300 young people took part in teams in the event to design and build a model car.

Libby, from Denbigh High School, was one of 30 to be asked to take part in an assessment process by the F1 Williams team.

As a result, the Year 10 pupil was then offered a place to join the Unilever Williams Engineering Academy designed to identify talented young engineers and which includes extra curricula tuition and a mentor.

The model car designed by Libby's team

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"At first I didn't think I'd got it because of being the youngest there," said Libby, who acted as her school team's design engineer.

"And then when they said my name... I just sat down for a second... I was really happy."

The opportunity with Williams F1 means she will be taking part in an e-learning scheme, and she will also get the chance to attend summer school events with the team in Oxford.

"Being 14, I was never 100% sure on what I wanted to do.

"And then when I started this competition, I realised there were so many paths in engineering."

This is the third time that a team from Denbigh High School has made it to the world finals of F1 in Schools.

It involved pupils Libby, Zara Addis, Tom Fishwick and Hollie Lloyd compiling a portfolio of design ideas.

Design teacher Gareth Jones said the school's success has shown other pupils they can compete with the best around the world.