For more than a quarter of a century, Mercedes-AMG has been supplying some of their fastest cars as the official safety car and medical car of Formula One. With the 2022 season set to take off on 18-20-March in Bahrain, the Affalterbach tuning company unveiled its latest pair of unsung safety heroes for motorsports’ most premier race series.
Taking the role of 2022’s F1 safety car is the which is the highest variant and possibly its swansong. Powered by a 4.0-litre biturbo V8 engine (740 PS/800 Nm) that is mated to a 7-speed AMG Speedshift dual-clutch transmission, the supercar can sprint from 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds with a top speed of 325 km/h.
That is good enough to be hanging out with some of the fastest cars on the planet, as the role of a safety car is more than just to lead the race cars safely. It isn’t allowed to drive too slowly as this could lead the tyres and brakes of the F1 cars from cooling down too much and causing their engines to overheat.
The Mercedes-AMG GT has been the official safety car for Formula One since 2015. Could its role be taken over by Mercedes-AMG’s next supercar once the AMG GT’s time is up?
Besides the AMG GT safety car, Mercedes-AMG has also unveiled its latest medical car, the . The four-door super-coupe makes its F1 debut, taking over the duties once held by the C 63 S AMG Estate.
The station wagon has been F1’s official medical car since 1998 and though a 4-door coupe with a hatch might seem like it doesn’t match the wagon’s space, the latest medical car still has enough room for medical personnel and equipment.
Powering the AMG GT 63 S is a 4.0-litre V8 biturbo engine that makes 639 PS and 900 Nm that is paired to a 9-speed AMG Speedshift MCT gearbox. An advantage the newest medical car has over its predecessor is the 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system which guarantees optimum traction even in bad weather.
With the unveiling of the latest F1 safety and medical cars, the lineup for the 2022 F1 season is all set. With new rules and regulations, could we see more competition and another new winning driver like in 2021? We’ll have to wait until the lights go out in Bahrain for what could be another exhilarating season for fans (and Netflix).
Keyword: Mercedes-AMG’s unveiling of their safety and medical cars complete 2022 F1 lineup