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Mercedes: We are now aiming for a safe return to the factory

Mercedes: "We are now aiming for a safe return to the factory"

31-05-2020 19:04

GPblog.com

The Formula 1 season will finally have to start next month, but next week the factories will already be opened. Mercedes has deployed a task force to make the resumption run smoothly.

The FIA has forced the factories and offices of all Formula 1 teams to close for 63 days, but that period will soon come to an end. The teams will therefore have to prepare themselves to allow their personnel to work on location again.

Mercedes has chosen to deploy a task force so that the transition can proceed as safely as possible. "These are extraordinary times and we all want to start racing again as soon as possible, but above all it has to be safe. We have to make sure our people are safe. That's why we've deployed a task force over the last ten weeks, if it's no longer," explains COO Rob Thomas in a Pure Pitwall video from Mercedes.

Measures at Mercedes

"Our focus is on getting back to work because we hope to be back at the factory soon and working towards a race. Hopefully in July." The first race of the season is scheduled on July 5 in Austria, but there is no official confirmation yet that the Grand Prix will actually take place.

"There's a lot going on at the factory at the moment. We have people making risk assessments everywhere, we are making markings so that everyone is two metres apart, we are using one-way traffic and we are looking at the use of masks, temperature measurements and more of that sort of thing".

Despite all the preparations, Thomas has no intention of letting anyone return to the factory. "If people now work from home, they will continue to work there. But for those employees who cannot, we will make sure that they can do their work safely", concludes the COO.