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Enlarge / Bernd Mayländer stands subsequent to the Components 1 security automotive, a Mercedes-AMG GT R. The station wagon within the background is the F1 medical automotive.Mercedes-AMG
Regardless of following Components 1 carefully for a number of many years, I nonetheless do not feel snug making predictions in regards to the races. Take the current Turkish Grand Prix, for instance. Had been I a betting particular person, I might have stated that the race, held in treacherous and altering climate, could be interrupted by a minimum of one security automotive interval, maybe extra. As a substitute, security automotive driver Bernd Mayländer and his co-driver acquired to observe your complete race from the consolation of their automotive with out being referred to as upon by race management.
Using a tempo automotive has been well-established within the US, however for a lot of F1’s existence, the game relied on trackside, flag-bearing marshals to manage or neutralize a race within the occasion of a crash. That modified in 1993, when F1 acquired over its case of “not invented right here” and adopted the security automotive, calling on the service for the primary time at that yr’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Enlarge / Mayländer and his co-driver wait to be referred to as into motion by race management.Jiri Krenek/Mercedes-AMG
On that event, the automotive was a somewhat mundane Fiat Tempra sedan, and different races noticed the job carried out by a Ford Escort Cosworth RS, Honda Prelude, and even a Lamborghini Diablo, relying on what every race promoter organized. However in 1996, the game entered right into a partnership with Mercedes-Benz, which has equipped the autos ever since. (This yr, the corporate was joined by Aston Martin—which now makes use of Mercedes engines—with the 2 firms splitting the races between them.)
Mayländer drove for Mercedes for a lot of his profession, racing in German touring vehicles (DTM) and sports activities vehicles just like the CLK-GTR. However in 1999, he was employed for the job of F1 security driver, racking up 420 races since and nonetheless counting. Again in 1999, his workplace was a CLK 55 AMG, which had loads of energy however did not deal with something like immediately’s Mercedes-AMG GT R, which even on road-legal Pirelli tires is almost as fast as its race-going GT4 cousin. (For extra in regards to the GT R itself, take a look at our evaluate from 2019.)
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Enlarge / In 1999, the F1 security automotive was this CLK 55 AMG, which in all probability did not deal with fairly in addition to immediately’s almost-racecar. Mercedes-Benz
The GT R’s engine will not be a very powerful part, nonetheless. “You all the time want plenty of energy, issues like that,” Mayländer informed me. “A very powerful factor—and it is also actually improved during the last 22 years—is all of the tools you are utilizing contained in the automotive. Twenty years in the past… you could not actually hear race management, otherwise you have been driving across the racetrack with a hand radio as a backup. And now now we have two digital radio methods. We are able to even get an electronic mail if it is actually vital.”
The choice to deploy Mayländer and his co-driver, Richard Darker, rests with F1 race management. Which may occur due to climate—there’s an excessive amount of water on the observe, for example—or due to a crash on the observe that security employees have to reply to. His job is to guide the pack of F1 vehicles behind him, one thing that always frustrates these drivers.
Enlarge / Mayländer has racked up 420 F1 races and counting since taking over the job of security automotive driver in 1999.Mercedes-AMG
However these F1 drivers cannot all the time see what Mayländer can from his cockpit. “So we attempt to make it protected for the state of affairs. I all the time prefer to drive as fast as potential, and [it is] enjoyable for those who actually can drive on the restrict. However the pace is said to the directions of race management,” he defined. Nonetheless, Mayländer does attempt to hold cornering speeds excessive sufficient that the F1 vehicles do not lose all the warmth of their rubber.
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