FORMULA ONE teams are voluntarily working through their ‘summer break’ to help make crucial ventilators for the NHS.
Staff at the seven UK based F1 teams are supposed to be on their mandatory summer shut-down, normally held in August when their factories have to shut.
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F1 teams are helping make ventilators for the NHSCredit: AP:Associated Press
F1 chiefs and team bosses agreed to move forward that period to Easter to clear the calendar for when racing is allowed to resume.
But SunSPORT can reveal that many staff have still gone to work – even those who have been placed on furlough – to help make the ventilators to help patients with the coronavirus.
Staff at Mercedes, Red Bull, Renault, McLaren, Racing Point, Williams and Haas are part of “Project pitlane” to make the breathing apparatus.
The news comes as Renault confirmed they have furloughed most of their British-based staff until the end of May.
The team, which is based in Enstone in Oxfordshire, is applying for the government furlough scheme and plans to top-up the wages to at least 80 percent.
Meanwhile, two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, have told SunSPORT that they do not currently have any plans to put staff on furlough.
Meanwhile, Formula E boss, Alejandro Agag, says that unlike F1, teams in the all-electric series are not at risk of going bust during the coronavirus lockdown.
Agag also confirmed our story from last week that the London Eprix looks set to be postponed as the race track around the ExCel centre is now an emergency NHS hospital.
Agag says that when the series is allowed to race again, it is likely that they will pick proper racetracks, rather than city centres for ease of set-up and logistics.
However, the current season will definitely come to an end in September.
He told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “If we’re looking at the information that is being discussed, we should be heading towards an improvement in the situation in May. “We’re keeping the Berlin race as scheduled for June 21 as a sign of hope.
“Then we’re thinking about six or seven races to be held on permanent tracks, not on the city tracks.
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“On permanent tracks we can move much more promptly. So we’re working on a couple of different solutions, as close as possible to big cities.
“The season will go beyond July 26th for sure, which was supposed to be the second race in London, but we did give ourselves a time limit of September.
“Season six must end within September, so that we can go ahead and start season seven in the last months of 2020.”
SMany staff have still gone to work – even those who have been placed on furloughCredit: University College London (UCL)
Mercedes-Benz EQ enter their first full production car for upcoming Formula E competition
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
