Mercedes SL63 AMG to serve as F1 safety car in 2009 season

Mercedes-Benz have been providing the safety cars for Formula One for more than ten years now. The first model to perform this function was the Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG during the 1996 season. More recently, Mercedes have made extensive use of this vehicle for advertising purposes: "Nobody gets past a Mercedes!" The company's expertise was not confined to making racing cars go faster: they also sent increasingly sophisticated safety vehicles along to accompany the F1 circus on its travels and quite frequently play a major role in the outcome of the event. Every time they came out onto the track, even 'big brother' McLaren-Mercedes had to cede priority.

Last year, it was the SL63 AMG doing the honours in the top echelon of motor racing. This season too, the same model with a few modifications has made the long journey to Australia for the GP curtain-raiser. Amongst other things, the car has been equipped with three-stage traction control, massively boosted brakes and additional cooling for the hotter race weekends. Thanks to carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP), the weight of the vehicle has also been considerably reduced. Take a look at the gallery and you'll envy Bernd Mayländer who gets to sit in this car, biding his time until the race stewards switch on the red lights...