Safety First! New look for the AMG GT R Official FIA F1 Safety Car

By Brent vd Schyff

For 25 years F1 fans around the world have dropped jaws over arguably the sexiest safety car in the racing community. A sleek silver Mercedes out in front keeping that bunch of rowdy racecar drivers at bay before scampering back into the pits at the right time.

The current car serving office is the latest AMG GT R and an absolute monster in terms of performance. It’s powerful V8 bi-turbo engine kicks out 430 kW, tops out at a maximum speed of 318km/h and can accelerate to 100km/h in 3.6 seconds. Safe to say that it’s no slouch but when out on the front lines it almost looks like it’s standing still! That’s because F1 cars are ridiculously fast and will make anything look slow!

The role of the safety car is critical. Apart from looking damn fine, the main job is to follow the instructions of the race director in the event of an accident that needs to be cleared up marshalls and the recovery crew. The driver of the safety car needs to keep the cars in order but maintain a steady fast pace as race cars are designed to use air to cool down parts that generate high heat. Go too slow and you could risk a car overheating and face a rather angry team boss. 

That’s a hot seat to fill and for the past 20 of those 25 years, that role has solely fallen under the responsibility of one man. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. 20 years makes this man the longest-serving driver in formula 1. That man’s name is Bernd Mayländer. The 49-year-old German is an accomplished race car driver in his own right winning the 24 hours Nurburgring in a Porsche GT3 R and completing 3 years in DTM for Mercedes.

For 2020, when the season returns the livery will be livened to show Formula 1’s support to people around the world in the fight against COVID-19 and symbolize F1’s unity in the fight against racism.