The Mercedes-AMG One has set a new fastest lap for production cars at the Nürburgring, eclipsing the previous record by almost 10sec.
The 1049bhp hypercar posted a time of 6min 35.183sec around the 156-corner circuit, driven by Mercedes DTM driver Maro Engel on 28 October. This lap time also took the record for the super-sports car category.
Dubbed a Formula 1 car for the road, the £2.2 million hypercar is the most potent Mercedes-AMG road car ever made, combining a modified version of the firm’s turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 grand prix engine with four electric motors.
The previous production car lap record was held by the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey-Racing with a time of 6min 43.300sec. The outright Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record remains with the all-electric, one-off Volkswagen ID R (6min 5.336sec).
“That was really an unforgettable experience,” said Engel, who took the record on a damp and dirty track.
“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.”
Engel added: “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. But that’s also a real Formula 1 feeling.”