Breathing aid built in Brixworth is now saving lives of Covid-19 patients Northampton General Hospital

Breathing aids manufactured in Mercedes' Formula One factory at Brixworth are now helping save Covid-19 patients' lives at Northampton General Hospital.

Crack engineers from the Mercedes-AMG Grand Prix team first sat down with University College London medics to start developing the device on March 18 after answering Government pleas for help.

They then turned over their High-Performance Powertrain production facility at their Technical Centre in Brixworth — which normally produces 1.6-litre turbo petrol-electric hybrid units for six-time world champ Lewis Hamilton — to manufacture a ventilator designed to keep patients out of intensive care.

Around 40 machines used to make pistons and turbochargers for the F1 power units are now pumping out 1,000 devices a day for the NHS.

And the first batch has just been shipped into the front line just seven-and-a-half miles down A508.

Made in Northamptonshire, saving lives in Northamptonshire.

Northampton General's medical director Matthew Metcalfe said: “We are excited to have received the first delivery into the hospital.

“It’s fantastic to have the support of local businesses and we would like to thank the team from Mercedes-AMG HPP — and UCL London and NHS England — for producing these machines so quickly for us."

Staff at Northampton General have already seen 115 Covid-19 patients die and coping with dozens extra cases every day.

Mr Metcalfe added: “These new devices will help patients with Covid-19 who need assistance to breathe more easily. The small device works with an oxygen mask to make sure the patient has enough oxygen going into their lungs.

"Using these devices means that we don’t always need to give more invasive treatment to patients and use a full ventilator machine. We will be using these new CPAP machines to treat our Covid-19 patients as part of cutting-edge trials designed to improve care."

Mercedes-AMG HPP boss Andy Cowell said: “We have been proud to put our resources at the service of UCL to deliver the project to the highest standards and in the fastest possible timeframe.”