For some boneheads, the favorite time in a race is when there is a crash or emergency, and they enjoy watching the AMG cars circling the track. And we cant blame them, as these cars are practical work of genius. However, starting from 2012 Formula One season, AMG machines have a bigger role to play.
Starting Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, the world will witness the iconic AMG becoming representative of the official 2012 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team. Formerly known as Mercedes GP, will continue to feature Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg behind the wheels for the third season together.
Depending on the race conditions, the race stewards deploy the safety car to progress the race safely in case of crash or rain.
Starting from the 2012 season, the lapped cars will be allowed to overtake the Safety Car after the Race Control has given the appropriate signal during a Safety Car phase. The FIA believes that by allowing them to gain their lap back, the natural race order of the cars will be restored, which should allow for more fair opportunities when the race restarts.
This is the sixteenth year in a row for the Mercedes-AMG providing the official F1 Safety Car and Medical Car for the Formula One Championship. SLS AMG, with its characteristic roof lights and distinctive FIA and F1 logos and the iconic gullwing body, plays the role of the official safety car in F1 since 2010. Behind the wheels since the 2000 is the 40-year-old German driver, Bernd Mayländer, who has also tried his hand in DTM racing and is now an instructor at the AMG Driving Academy. His co-driver and navigator is 45-year-old Pete Tibbetts.
With no significant modifications, the SLS AMG comes with the standard 6.2-litre V8 that develops 571 hp and 650 Nm of torque, propelling the car from 0-100 kmph in 3.8 seconds. However, the F1 safety car sports redesigned exhaust that give a subsequently louder firing than the production variant.
Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG Estate is the official F1 Medical car with a 6.3-liter V8 engine pumping as much as 487 hp peak power and . Driving the Medical is 32 years old, South African driver, Alan van der Merwe. His co-driver is Dr. Gary Hartstein from Belgium, who at 57 is the official FIA Grand Prix Chief Medical Officer. Moreover, two assisting medical experts from the local clinic near the racetrack take the rear seats.
In the 2011 Formula 1 season, the SLS AMG Official F1TM Safety Car was deployed twelve times, covering a total distance of 178 miles, while in 2010, it was deployed 21 times in 19 races, lapping 283 miles. As much as we love these beauties, we hope to see them fewer times this seasonl.
