Ferrari could join UK-based teams in the battle against COVID-19
After Formula One’s UK-based teams announced their intention to help to ease the ventilator shortage, the Scuderia Ferrari team and Fiat Chrysler have also began talks with Italy’s biggest ventilator manufacturer to help boost production.
With the ongoing coronavirus crises getting even more serious day by day, health authorities have started battling against shortages of several key devices that are necessary in the treatment of the infected people. The list of the important tools includes ventilators and respiratory device that is critical to help supply more air to people suffering from breathing difficulties.
In a response of the UK government’ call for assistance, F1’s UK-based teams have offered their help of manufacturing or supporting the production of necessary medical devices.
„The teams are working in collaboration with Formula 1, the UK Government and other organisations to establish the feasibility of the teams producing, or supporting the production of, medical devices to help in the treatment of COVID-19 patients,” the F1 statement read.
„All the teams have expert design, technology and production capabilities, and specialise in rapid prototyping and high value manufacturing, which is hoped can be applied to the critical needs set out by Government.”
The help of the UK-based F1 squads follows the Agnelli family which controls Ferrari and Fiat donating €10m (£9.3m) to the Italian government to help deal with the coronavirus emergency. The family has already bought 150 extra ventilators and provided a fleet of cars to distribute food and medicine in Italy.
Scuderia Ferrari, FIAT-Chrysler and car parts maker Marelli have started conversation with Italy’s biggest ventilator manufacturer Siare Engineering about the possibility of helping with the assembly of ventilators or even produce parts of the devices. The production could begin at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarter.
Speaking to Reuters, the company’s CEO Gianluca Preziosa disclosed that “we’re talking to Fiat Chrysler, Ferrari and Marelli to try to understand if they can lend us a hand in this process for the electronics part."
