Formula 1: Red Bull working hard on ventilators – Christian Horner

Formula 1 is on shut down as a result of the coronavirus crisis, but Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says he’s “busier than ever – there’s a lot going on at the moment”.

With the first eight races all called off, and more likely to follow, F1 has brought forward its summer break so as to be in the best state possible whenever racing can start up again.

Meanwhile, the UK-based teams have turned their attentions to helping out with the supply of medical equipment, and team bosses such as Horner are engaged in serious talks about how best to secure the future of the sport in the midst of a crisis that he says is far more critical than the 2008 financial crash.

In a wide-ranging interview, the first by a team boss during the sport’s enforced hiatus, Horner discusses:

F1’s ventilator plan

As has been widely reported, the UK-based F1 teams have responded to the government’s call for industries to help boost the supply of critical care equipment to help the NHS deal with the influx of coronavirus patients.

There are three work streams on various types of equipment, and the work is being co-ordinated by F1 under their chief technical officer Pat Symonds.

Horner says the response from engineers and manufacturing staff to help with what is known as ‘Project Pitlane’ has been “overwhelming”.

“People like Rob Marshall, our chief designer, he has done a couple of all-nighters on this coming up with engineering solutions to issues they’ve encountered,” Horner says.

“The key thing is getting these systems out there as quickly as possible.

“F1’s ability to problem-solve is second to none and our ability to make rapid prototype parts is again second to none.

“So not just our team but all the teams have responded in a phenomenal way. I can only judge what’s going on in our our facility, and the efforts that the engineering team and R&D and manufacturing have put into this have been exemplary.”

The teams are unable to share many details of their work because the project is run by the government but Horner says: “Basically, we’ve been using the engineering skill of the relevant people to problem solve and knock out a few rapid prototypes and get it to the point of sign-off.” – bbc.com