08 Mar 2022

Mercedes reveals new F1 safety and medical cars for 2022 season

Mercedes has revealed its updated safety and medical cars for the 2022 Formula 1 season ahead of the Bahrain opener next weekend. The German manufacturer has a long history of supplying safety and medical cars and since 2019, they have supplied the Mercedes-AMG GT R as the Safety Car.

The Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series will serve as the official safety car for half of this season’s races, as Mercedes continues to share duties with Aston Martin.

The Black Series replaces the Mercedes-AMG GT R that was supplied by Mercedes as the safety car last year, while the previous C 63 S Estate that had been used since 2015 is replaced as the medical car by the GT 63 S 4MATIC+. According to Mercedes, they are the most powerful editions of these vehicles.

One noticeable change on the new safety car is the removal of the light bar which previous sat on top of the roof. This has been replaced by a new light signalling system that is built into the windscreen, as well as featuring on the rear spoiler.

The rear number plate will also illuminate in the relevant colours to signal to drivers during races, while lights on the side windows will help spectators in the grandstands to see when the safety car is about to come into the pits.

The Safety Car will be driven by Bernd Maylander who has driven it since 2000 and the 50-year-old said he was “so happy” to be back behind the wheel once more.

“I’m so happy that I will once again be at the wheel of the Formula 1 safety car for the 2022 season,” he said. “And I’m especially pleased that this year it’s a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series. I’ve already had the chance to test this amazing vehicle many times and I’m simply blown away by how close it is to a thoroughbred race car.

 “It really is a major step compared to last year’s GT R – which was already at an extremely high level. To have a workplace like this in the name of safety is a dream come true.”

Inside the cockpit , he will be supported by co-driver Richard Darker, who has access to two monitors with all the race information and TV footage to keep track of the F1 field while on-track.

The safety and medical car will both retain the red livery adopted by Mercedes last year, and features sponsorship from Crowdstrike.

On weekends where Mercedes does not supply the track vehicles, the Aston Martin Vantage and Aston Martin DBX SUV will serve as the safety and medical car respectively.