ROMA State College teacher Chris Smith knows the F1 in Schools program is more than just racing wooden cars - it's about developing students for the real world.

The co-ordinator of the subject at the school was proud to watch his students exceed expectations at the State Titles in Toowoomba earlier this month.

Mr Smith said the Professional side that placed, Whiplash Racing, were particularly impressive in placing higher than a team that had previously been to the Nationals.

"Really ecstatic and over the moon that our professional team came second in the state,” he said.

"They beat a team that went to Nationals, so we're really proud.

"Our professional team has beaten them despite not having been to Nationals.

"We didn't think we would place, and we didn't think we'd do very well at all due to a lot of technology challenges here at the school.”

Mr Smith and fellow teacher Jo Rickert have been working with some of the students since the program started in Roma back in 2014.

He said watching them develop from teenagers to young adults had been a pleasure to experience.

"Our Year 12 students have grown so much since they started back three years ago in Year 10,” he said.

"They've gotten better at the program and how to design the F1 cars, but they've also learnt a lot of life-long skills - public speaking, teamwork, time management.

"They've made a lot of industry connections and one of our students has actually been offered a job.

"Even the younger kids that didn't place had such an amazing time, they made friends, got to talk to adults and start that process of developing those skills that you can see the Year 12s have developed.”