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Britain orders 10,000 ventilators from F1/McLaren/Mercedes/Ford/Rolls-Royce/Airbus

Paramedics and ambulance personnel get instructions from a command unit outside London's ExCel Centre arena, which is being turned into a 4,000 bed temporary hospital called NHS Nightingale to deal with coronavirus patients. The hospital is due to open Monday, March 30. / AP     LONDON — Britain has ordered 10,000 ventilators from a consortium of leading aerospace, engineering and Formula One racing companies which will start production this week in response to an urgent government call for industry to help save lives. The 27-strong team, including Airbus, BAE Systems, Ford and Rolls-Royce, have joined forces to ramp up production of a ventilator made by Smiths Group, which supports those with complications from COVID-19. The consortium, which also includes seven Formula One teams including McLaren and Mercedes, home to World Champion Lewis Hamilton, said they had pulled staff off existing projects to meet the national need. Some 1,228 people have died from coronavirus in the United Kingdom and a senior health official said on Saturday the country would be doing well if it manages to keep the death toll below 20,000. "This consortium brings together some of the most innovative companies in the world," Dick Elsy, the head of the consortium, said in a statement. "I am confident this consortium has the skills and tools to make a difference and save lives." The United Kingdom, which initially only had 5,000 ventilators available in its National Health Service, has been trying to secure additional supplies after realising it needed 30,000 to cope with the peak of the outbreak. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is now in isolation in Downing Street after testing positive for coronavirus, made an emergency appeal earlier this month for manufacturers to retool their production lines and start making specialist health equipment including ventilators. Britain now has about 8,000 ventilators, with another 8,000 on order from international manufacturers that are due in coming weeks. Last week it placed an order for a newly-designed model from the vacuum cleaner company Dyson that will need to be approved by the health regulator. Mercedes part of a separate effort, too Separately on Monday a second consortium including Mercedes Formula One and other F1 teams said it had developed in less than a week a new version of a breathing aid that can help coronavirus patients.

This is what it's like to drive McLaren's unbridled P1 GTR

McLaren is used to making the most of what it's allowed to do within certain limits. Those limits may be set by government regulators who determine what is and what is not acceptable for use on public roads, or by motorsport governing bodies like the FIA and ACO who determine what's fair to race on the track. But the P1 GTR is another beast entirely. Like the Aston Martin Vulcan or Ferrari FXX K, the McLaren P1 GTR represents the very best of what Woking can do without any restrictions beyond the engineers' own capabilities. Which is all well and fine in theory or sitting still on a show stand, but given the nearly $3 million price of entry, most of us will never find out what it's like to actually drive on a track like it's meant to. Fortunately the blokes over at Autocar had just such a chance to take Britain's finest out on the track at the Losail circuit in Qatar, and were good enough to bring a GoPro camera or two along for the ride. The video is only about five minutes long, and half of it is taken up by preparations and explanations from McLaren's affable factory test driver Chris Goodwin, but it represents our best look yet at what it's like to drive this gentleman racer's plaything flat out. Related Gallery McLaren P1 GTR View 18 Photos News Source: Autocar via YouTube McLaren Coupe Special and Limited Editions Supercars Videos mclaren p1 mclaren p1 gtr

McLaren furloughs staff, and its F1 drivers take a pay cut

LONDON — McLaren became the first Formula One team to furlough staff because of the coronavirus on Wednesday, with drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz joining senior management in taking a pay cut. The sportscar maker said in a statement the temporary three-month wage reduction was part of wider cost-cutting measures due to the impact of the pandemic on its business. "These measures are focused on protecting jobs in the short-term to ensure our employees return to full-time work as the economy recovers," McLaren added. A team spokesman emphasized that 100-150 staff from across the group who were working on a "VentilatorChallengeUK" project were not included in the measure. The group, including the luxury carmaker and applied technology arm, employs some 3,700 people with around 850 working for the F1 team. McLaren is part of a consortium of leading aerospace, engineering and Formula One racing companies who have joined forces to ramp up production of a ventilator made by Smiths Group which supports those with complications from the virus. Britain has ordered 10,000 of the breathing machines. The majority of the Formula One team, who are currently on a three-week factory shutdown brought forward from August due to the season being on hold, will be furloughed from next week with McLaren making up some of the difference. Those not furloughed, from McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown downwards, will work on reduced pay. The team spokesman said British 20-year-old Norris and Spaniard Sainz were adamant they too wanted to play their part. With racing unlikely to start until the European summer at the earliest, F1 sources have said the teams — a majority based in Britain — are discussing extending the shutdown. Non-essential businesses are shuttered in Britain because of the virus and the authorities have asked everyone to stay at home. British finance minister Rishi Sunak announced last month that furloughed workers can claim 80% of their wages up to 2,500 pounds ($3,100) per month. Top Premier League clubs have made use of the scheme, drawing criticism from politicians and others questioning the ethics of seeking public money while paying millions to players. McLaren, whose Formula One team are the second most successful after Ferrari in terms of races and championships won, is majority owned by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat.