Mercedes has been supplying Safety and Medical Cars to Formula One for over 25 years. No fewer than 20 cars from Stuttgart have fulfilled these important roles during this period. This week new Mercedes-AMG F1 Safety and Medical Cars have been shown ahead of the 2022 season. Check out all the 2022 F1 cars in this gallery.

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Two new vehicles

For the 2022 season, two of the company’s most powerful models will be F1 Safety and Medical Cars. The AMG GT Black Series and the AMG GT63S have been tasked with these important roles. Interestingly, both cars are near standard, save for the necessary safety equipment and lighting required for their on-track duties.

You can read all about the GT Black Series at this link.

Red leader

You may have noticed that there is no light bar on the roof of the Safety Car. Mercedes-AMG says the fitment of a light bar would have interfered with the aerodynamic balance of the AMG GT Black Series. Instead, the lights have been incorporated into the upper area of the windscreen in front while the rearward-facing lights have been integrated into the rear spoiler.

Orange LEDs mean “absolutely no overtaking” and green means racing drivers that can overtake the Safety Car (but that depends on how the rules are being interpreted at that race). Furthermore, the LED modules are dimmable for varying time and light conditions.

Driver and co-pilot are held in place by six-point racing harnesses. Additionally, they are kept informed of what’s going on around them via multiple cameras and several additional screens.

Medics at the ready

The Mercedes-AMG GT63S serves as the new F1 Medical Car. Incidentally, the four-door coupe takes over this role from the C63S AMG Estate. This new Medical Car is powered by a twin-turbocharged 4,0-litre V8 with 470 kW. Power is sent to all four wheels through a nine-speed transmission.

Click here to read our review and watch our video of the GT63S shot at the Circuit of the Americas, the current home of the US Formula One Grand Prix.

The Medical Car has a light bar on the roof. It is mounted on a carbon-fibre scoop designed to offer the lowest possible wind resistance and optimise airflow towards the fixed rear wing. In addition, the rear wing is fixed at the steepest angle to generate maximum downforce.

Occupants are held in place by four individual racing bucket seats accordingly fitted with multi-point harnesses. There are three tablets and an additional monitor for the electronic rear-view mirror installed on the dashboard to keep an eye on the race.

In their own words

“Recent years have seen Mercedes-AMG celebrate a huge number of amazing successes in the FIA Formula One World Championship. Eight constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ titles in the last eight years speak emphatically for themselves. Added to that is the extensive and widespread transfer of technology and image from this greatest of all motorsport stages and our series-production vehicles. Motorsport means so much to us, as does the best possible level of safety. There was absolutely no question that, after more than 25 years, we would extend our commitment as the provider of the safety car and medical car – with two absolutely outstanding vehicles from our line-up”, explains Philipp Schiemer, CEO of Mercedes‑AMG GmbH.

Bernd Mayländer, who has been driving the Formula One Safety Car since 2000 says: “I’m so happy that I will once again be at the wheel of the Formula 1 safety car for the 2022 season. And I’m especially pleased that this year it’s a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series. I’ve already had the chance to test this amazing vehicle many times and I’m simply blown away by how close it is to a thoroughbred race car. It really is a major step compared to last year’s GT R – which was already at an extremely high level. To have a workplace like this in the name of safety is a dream come true.”