Coronavirus: British F1 teams help to create breathing aid for COVID-19 patients

Mercedes and McLaren are among a host of British Formula One teams helping a project to make breathing aids for coronavirus patients in the UK.

Haas F1, Red Bull Racing, Renault Sport Racing, Williams and Racing Point are also involved in the project to create thousands of the device, known as a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), to help keep those diagnosed with COVID-19 out of intensive care.

The teams are part of a wider consortium of UK-based industrial, technology and engineering businesses that have joined forces to produce medical ventilators, with the government placing an order for more than 10,000.

Production is due to begin in earnest as the group, named the VentilatorChallengeUK Consortium, has spent the past week evaluating how best to design, manufacture, assemble and test all the needed components.

The group says it has agreed a new design, assembled from materials and parts already in production, and that it anticipates swift approval as regulators have been involved in the planning stages.

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