RACING around tight bends in a high-tech carbon fibre tube which can withstand a 20 G-force crash – it's quite a first day on planet earth.

This is the welcome to the world that babies can now get at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital thanks to technology developed not by the NHS or even big pharma – but by an Oxford Formula One racing team.

Williams F1 in Grove have used the same technology which protects its drivers in high-speed crashes to create a safe environment for newborn babies needing emergency transportation.

The Williams advanced engineering arm designed and manufactured the Babypod 20 in collaboration with Advanced Healthcare Technology.

The devices have been launched in Intensive Care Ambulances at Great Ormond Street and run by the Children Acute Transport Service.

Williams said the Babypod had been designed to provide the environment that a baby needs at a significantly reduced price of a standard transport incubator.

Advanced engineering managing director Craig Wilson said: "The parallels between a Formula One car and transport device for babies may not be immediately apparent, but both demand a lightweight and strong structure that keeps the occupant safe in the event of an accident, and can monitor vital signs whilst remaining easily transportable and accessible.

"We have taken the existing Babypod product and worked with AHT to create a device that is not only more compact and user-friendly but, crucially, can be scaled up in its production so that more hospitals can benefit from this Formula One-inspired technology."