Covid-19/Formula 1: Mercedes and University College London develop a breathing apparatus

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, University College London (UCL) and University College London Hospitals (UCLH) have developed a breathing apparatus to help British clinics and hospitals cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Formula 1 team on 07/04/2020.

The Mark II breathing aid was produced within a rapid timeframe - it took fewer than 100 hours from the initial meeting to production of the first device," said Mercedes. The technology has already been approved by the UK authorities and the first models have been delivered to the National Health Service (NHS). Mercedes and UCL have made the plans and patents for this technology available free of charge so that all companies with the means to produce the breathing apparatus can do so.

These Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) ventilators for patients with lung infections are being produced at Mercedes' technical centre in Brixworth (Northamptonshire, ENG) at a rate of 1,000 per day, while the UK government has placed an order for 10,000 ventilators. "40 machines that would normally produce F1 pistons and…