AMG smashes track record
The Mercedes-AMG One hypercar is now the fastest production model around the iconic circuit
Mercedes-AMG has demolished the track record for a road-legal production car around the legendary Nurburgring with its Formula One-derived One hypercar.
With an officially measured and notarised time of 6:35.183 minutes around the 20.832km track, the Mercedes-AMG One not only broke the road car record – previously set by the Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR in 2018 – by more than 8 seconds, it also set a new record for the super sports car category.
But it almost didn’t happen. When Mercedes-AMG set out on the attempt on October 28, 2022 the track was damp, so the team was forced to wait most of the day for it to dry out. By the time track conditions were suitable, there was only about an hour left before it closed.
It wasn’t until the final run of the day – starting exactly 29 seconds before the track officially shut at 5.15pm – that driver Maro Engel set his fastest time. Although Engel had already set a new best beforehand, the DTM driver was apparently “not satisfied”, so decided to take advantage of the improving conditions at the very last minute.
“That was really an unforgettable experience,” said Engel. “I didn’t expect that we would be able to set such a lap time with these track conditions.
Technically, the record-breaking car was a standard, road-legal Mercedes-AMG One. But of course it does have some remarkable Formula One-derived features, including a 1.6-litre turbo V6 engine and four electric motors that deliver a total of 782kW.
For the record run, maximum camber values were selected and Engel used the Race Plus drive mode, which provides maximum possible aerodynamics, tight chassis tuning, vehicle lowering by 37mm at the front and 30mm at the rear and, of course, full power from all motors.
The car was fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R MO tyres that come as standard on the AMG One, as well as the standard AMG ceramic composite braking system.
If you have a lazy $5 million lying around, then you might be able to have all that for yourself. Back in 2018, when what was then called “Project One” was launched, AMG confirmed that eight examples were earmarked for Australia and New Zealand.