Informationweek Commentary Reimagining Formula 1 Manufacturing to Build a Respiratory Device Here s how the Mercedes Formula 1 engineering team used tech expertise to reverse engineer CPAP breathing aid devices in response to COVID-19. Image: Pixabay Information from real-time data streams drives nearly every aspect of Formula 1 racing and informs the core skills of the F1 industry from rapid design and prototype manufacture to testing and skilled assembly. F1 loves a deadline you’re either ready by race time or you lose the race. As the coronavirus took hold in early March of 2020, it was showtime a call to arms for the F1 community to harness its know-how and band together with the British government to support the manufacture of respiratory devices in an effort called Project Pitlane.