The Mercedes-AMG ONE has become the fastest production car to lap the famous Nurburgring circuit in Germany.
With DTM driver and AMG brand ambassador Maro Engel at the wheel, it posted a time of 6:35.183 minutes — eight seconds faster than the previous record holder the Porsche 911 GT2 MR (6:38.835). The other two top spots were held down by the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series (6:43.616) and Porsche 911 GT3 RS (6:44.848).
For those not familiar with the circuit, the Nürburgring Nordschleife (North Loop) dates from 1927 with the remaining 20.8km section used by manufacturers and media outlets for testing purposes.
With a top speed of 352km/h, ONE is a production version of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W07 Hybrid race car. It’s powered by a combination of 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol V6 plus four electric motors, that together produce a total of 782kW. The engine has been adapted from the Formula 1 car, but reportedly needs to be replaced every 50,000km.
Mercedes-AMG brought two ONEs to the circuit to make the best use of its limited time.
According to the specifications of Nürburgring 1927 GmbH & Co. KG, both vehicles were inspected and documented by TÜV Rheinland to ensure that they were in series production.
A notary confirmed the proper condition of the vehicles and the correct execution of the record runs.
The record-breaking event was hard to beat in terms of excitement. The weather was sunny with a light wind, but the track was – typical of the Nürburgring in autumn – still damp and partly dirty in some areas. In some sections, such as the fast “Kesselchen” section, the ideal line had not yet completely dried. With air and asphalt temperatures of just under 20 degrees Celsius, there was only enough for a maximum of four fast laps.
At exactly 17:14:31, racing driver and AMG brand ambassador Maro Engel took to the track for the last attempt of the day, and burned the new time into the legendary and demanding Eifel asphalt. It wasn’t a minute too early, as the track was due to close at 17:15.
Although Engel had already posted a new record, the DTM driver believed he could better. Towards the end of his time slot, conditions were getting better by the minute.
“That was really an unforgettable experience,” Engel said. “I didn’t expect that we would be able to set such a lap time with these track conditions. In some crucial areas of the track, it hadn’t dried completely yet and was therefore tricky. That was a special challenge. We tried to find the optimal deployment strategy during the pre-tests.
“Like Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on their race weekends, I also had to deploy the electrical energy of the hybrid drive in the best possible way. That’s not easy, especially with this length of track. In addition, the DRS function had to be used optimally. But that’s also a real Formula 1 feeling.
“I would like to thank you for this opportunity and the trust you’ve placed in me. It was definitely something very special to drive this incredible car on the Ring.”
