Since COVID-19 has been moving from epidemic to pandemic status, F1 teams wanted to take part to aid people who are suffering from coronavirus disease. And since this disease attacks the Respiratory system or what is called the ventilatory system in the human body, the seven Formula 1 team in the UK have approached to help cope produce the life-saving equipment faraway from car parts and engine components which it can quickly manufacture by the thousand since these teams have high-tech engineering centers filled with the latest production equipment.

 

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially changed its classification of COVID-19 from a public health emergency of international concern to a pandemic. That's exactly after 4 days before the cancellation of Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

At the end of the month of March, the Mercedes AMG F1 team has obtained approval to build (CPAP) machine, which delivers oxygen to the lungs without needing a ventilator. and yes, the device has been approved by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in less than 100 hours from the first meeting to a first production model. University College London engineers worked with clinicians at UCLH with the F1 team to create this device to help keep coronavirus patients out of intensive care. 

 

So far, 40 of the new devices have been delivered to ULCH and to 3 other London hospitals. If trials go well, up to 1,000 of the CPAP machines can be produced per day by Mercedes-AMG-HPP, beginning in a week's time.

 

CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. The machines help people with sleep apnea breathe more easily and regularly every night while they are sleeping. A CPAP machine increases the air pressure in your throat to prevent your airway from collapsing when you inhale. It also decreases snoring.

 

These devices are used routinely in UK hospitals to support patients with breathing difficulties onwards or at home, but the equipment is in short supply. China and Italy used them to help COVID-19 patients too.

 

Reports from Italy indicate that approximately 50% of patients given CPAP have avoided the need to be put in an invasive mechanical ventilator - equipment the UK government is working to stock up on. 

 

Advertisement Professor Mervyn Singer, a critical care consultant at UCL Hospital, said: "These devices will help to save lives by ensuring that ventilators, a limited resource, are used only for the most severely ill. 

 

On the other hand, McLaren said it would use the expertise and resources from all three of its businesses to aid with all aspects of production according to Sundaytmes. It has been reported that the collective has received an order for 10,000 ventilators, a critical piece of equipment for the resource-strapped NHS.

Out of UK, Ferrari has also confirmed it will produce ventilators in Italy, that European country which has had been the hardest-hit among the others.