Mercedes Benz has unveiled the new safety and medical cars that will be used during the 2008 Formula One season. The safety car is based on the SL 63 AMG while the medical machine is derived from the C 63 AMG Estate. Both have been developed by AMG and the Performance Studio. The safety car, which will be driven again by Bernd Maylander, was presented at the Geneva Motor Show. The car is powered by a an AMG 6.3-litre V8 engine and has an output of 525HP. It can accelerate from zero to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds. The car is 220 kg lighter than the series-production vehicle. It is the eighth generation of safety car from AMG, who has been the official supplier to F1 since the 1996 season. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I´ve always wondered why there is no Ferrari Pace car...I saw one in Imola 2006, but it wasnt the safety car...it was like a check-the track-conditions F-430, running right after the Merc...drivers are always complaining about the speed of the safety car. The safety car should be an outdated formula 1 car with lights...or at least an A1 GP car IMHO.
It is kinda ridiculous that these F1 cars have to follow a car that is easily 20 to 30 (educated guess) seconds a lap slower. It is almost counter-productive because accidents are prone to happen (especially with Hamilton brake-checking every 5 feet) and the tires get cold. But you can't take away the money that Bernie gets from AMG to put their car at the front of the grid and put a competent car there.
If you watch the A1GP you would see that they use a 599 as a pace car. Iit would be cool to see a F-car in the F1 series. would love to see a FFX used for the official pace car
NASCAR used a BMW 7-series (2002+ gen) pace car at one of their road course events a few years back. I lol'd.
What's funnier is that it was fast enough to pace the "race cars". And besides... with NASCAR fronting as a "sedan" series, what US-made sedan would be able to keep up, realistically?
So you're saying it makes more sense for them to just run around at full speed while there are multiple cars on the track with oil spills and carbon shards. Oh and don't forget the ambulances and track marshals!
+1 Thats the point of safety car to slow up the racing so it's safe to clear racing lines or whatever it's up to the drivers to keep heat in there tyres and without crashing into others, It's better than stopping the race. It makes no odds to me what car they use, although given a choice it would be a horse.
The purpose for the safety car is to slow the field down. A street car will work. It would be nice to have the capability to do some quick laps. Perhaps a DTM Series Mercedes.
At the Canada race last year when Kubica crashed, it affected one corner on the entire track. While the track worked to clean up the crash, I would tend to believe that running behind a production Mercedes would be more dangerous than running behind an old F1 car that is pushing 90%. The safety car should keep something close to race pace for the majority of the track and slow down when in the dangerous sections.
So when a stray dog or lunatic decides to go for a walk on the track, the old F1 car comes out flat out see's offending object/person's slams on ....
