Mercedes-AMG One sets new Nurburgring lap record

The Mercedes-AMG One hypercar, which is powered by a modified Formula One engine, has set a new lap record for a road-legal production car at the Nurburgring.

The car, which has a V6 turbo-hybrid engine based on the 2016 Mercedes F1 power unit, set a time of 6:30.705 to slash the record previously held by a Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR by eight seconds.

The lap was set by Mercedes GT3 driver Maro Engel on October 28 this year at 5:14pm local time, just before the track closed at 5:15pm. The autumnal conditions were far from ideal, but the track was getting better with each run and Engel saved his very best until last.

“That was really an unforgettable experience,” Engel said. “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. We tried to find the optimal deployment strategy during the pre-tests.

“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. In addition, the DRS function had to be used optimally. But that’s also a real Formula One feeling.”

Nurburgring lap records are often seen as the ultimate test of road-going performance cars as they put the emphasis on a car’s handling rather than Top Trump-style figures, such as maximum speed or 0-60 times.

The Mercedes-AMG One, which produces over 1,000 bhp, was in the same specification as the 275 production models that have already been sold to customers for over $2.7 million. It also featured road-going Michelin tyres like the ones that will hit the road on the final production car.

The lap was over 30 seconds faster than the Formula One lap record set by Ferrari driver Clay Regazzoni in 1975, although all in-period F1 times were set on a different layout that was two kilometers longer.

Mercedes’ new production car lap record raises the question of whether Aston Martin will attempt to set an official Nurburgring time in the Adrian Newey-designed Valkyrie. In theory, the Valkyrie’s advanced underfloor aerodynamics should mean it goes even faster than the Mercedes-AMG One, but it has not yet set a time.