Mercedes and INEOS will produce 100 protective masks per day for free

As a technologically advanced industry, Formula 1 can mean a lot in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus. Certainly Mercedes, which normally employs around 1500 people for the F1 team, has the capacity to do its bit. For example, they will support their new sponsor with the production of face protection.

British chemical company INEOS has been one of the main sponsors of Mercedes in Formula 1 since this season. The company was in the news earlier when they made disinfectant hand sanitiser available free of charge to local hospitals. Now, in cooperation with Mercedes, they will do the same with so-called PPE shields. These are helmets with plastic caps to protect hospital employees against the virus.

“The entire INEOS family feels it is everyone’s responsibility to be hands on in this crisis by deploying resource and expertise to support the frontline where best we can,” Sir Ben Ainslie, INEOS UK Skipper and team principal, said according to crash.net.

100 shield a day, 5000 in total

“We have a lot of expertise in manufacturing and production and we therefore felt the best way for us to support was the production of PPE face shields which will go direct, free-of-charge, to frontline staff in the team’s local area."

So now Mercedes is going to help with the production of these screens. At Mercedes-Benz Applied Sciences in Portsmouth, the aim is to have 100 PPE screens rolling off the production line every day. In total, INEOS hopes to be able to supply some 5000 of these shields to hospitals.