The £2.2million Mercedes-AMG One has officially become the fastest ‘production car’ to lap the fearsome 12.9-mile long Nürburgring circuit, bettering the previous record by almost 10 seconds.
The 1,049bhp hypercar completed the undulating, 156-corner track on 28 October in a time of 6 minutes and 35.183 seconds, with Mercedes DTM driver Maro Engel at the wheel – that’s around 25 seconds less than it takes to hard-boil a medium-size egg!
The hypercar is the most powerful Mercedes road model of all time, with the drivetrain lifted from the back of the official F1 team’s 2016 racing machines, in which Nico Rosberg pipped seven-time champ Lewis Hamilton to the driver’s crown that year.
New record: Mercedes driver Maro Engel poses with the new production car lap record set in the £2.2million One hypercar
Mercedes confirmed that the car used for the record attempt was as ‘standard’ – that’s the same as the 275 customer models due to be delivered to owners imminently.
They all come with a turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 engine, 8.4kWh battery and four electric-motors.
The One’s red line is capped at only – and we use ‘only’ loosely – 11,000rpm compared to the 2016 F1 car’s rev limit of 15,000rpm, but will still hit 62mph from a standstill in 2.9 seconds and race to a top speed of 218mph.
Each example in the limited run of two-seat hypercars – which are only available in left-hand-drive – were sold to dedicated Mercedes customers before the incredible motor was officially launched back in September 2017.
The previous lap record around the fabled German course for a production car that’s sold to the public had been held by the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey-Racing, which clocked the circuit in 6 minutes and 43.300 seconds.
The 1,049bhp hypercar completed the undulating, 156-corner track on 28 October in a time of 6 minutes and 35.183 seconds
The previous lap record around the fabled German course had been held by the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey-Racing, which clocked the circuit in 6 minutes and 43.300 seconds
Mercedes confirmed that the car used for the record attempt was a ‘standard’ that’s the same as the 275 customer models due to be delivered to owners imminently
Porsche does still hold a couple of titles around the Nürburgring, though.
Its Taycan Turbo S is the fastest production electric vehicle, having retaken the top spot from the Tesla Model S Plaid in August with a lap time of 7 minutes and 33.35 seconds.
The AMG One’s time is also over a minute slower than the outright lap record around the ‘Nordschleife’, which currently belongs to Porsche’s 919 Hybrid Evo endurance racing car at 5 minutes and 19.55 seconds.
The hypercar is the most powerful Mercedes road model of all time, with the drivetrain lifted from the back of the official F1 team’s 2016 racing machines
Each example of two-seat hypercars – which are only available in left-hand-drive – was sold to dedicated Mercedes customers before it was officially launched back in September 2017
The AMG One’s time is over a minute slower than the outright lap record around the ‘Nordschleife’, which belongs to Porsche’s 919 Hybrid Evo endurance racing car at 5mins and 19.55secs
The One’s red line is capped 11,000rpm compared to the 2016 F1 car’s rev limit of 15,000rpm, but will still hit 62mph from a standstill in 2.9 seconds and race to a top speed of 218mph
Commenting after blitzing the lap record, Engel said: ‘That was really an unforgettable experience.
‘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.’
He added: ‘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.’
