Mercedes sets Nordschleife lap record with One

With a lap time of 6'35"183, the Mercedes hypercar takes back a record that the Star brand left to Porsche in 2021 with the GT2 RS Manthey-Racing.

On the northern loop of the Nürburgring (Germany), there is always a record to improve. New proof was provided on October 28, 2022 by Mercedes Benz-AMG, author of the fastest lap for a “production car” thanks to the One:

The hypercar, driven by the German Maro engel, met the criteria to enter the class of so-called “road-legal” vehicles. According to the specifications of Nürburgring 1927 GmbH & Co. KG, two examples of the Mercedes-AMG One were inspected and documented by TÜV Rheinland to ensure that they were indeed standard. In other words, no part was added specifically for the attempt, and no element of the car was removed to save weight compared to the base version. A notary confirmed the good condition of the vehicles and the correct execution of the record.

“It was truly an unforgettable experience, said Maro Engel. I didn't expect that we would be able to achieve such a time in these track conditions. In some crucial areas of the track it had not yet completely dried and was therefore tricky. It was a particular challenge. We tried to find the optimal deployment strategy during pre-testing. As Lewis Hamilton and George Russell during their race weekends, I also had to deploy the electric energy of the hybrid drive in the best possible way. It's not easy, especially with such a length of track (20,832 km).

In addition, the DRS function had to be used optimally. But it's also a real feeling worthy of Formula 1. I would like to thank you for this opportunity and the trust you have placed in me. It was definitely something very special to drive this incredible car on the Ring. »

ALSO READ > Production of the Mercedes-AMG ONE has started

“I am proud of the entire AMG team – everyone who was involved in this project ", said Philipp Schiemer, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. “The various departments in Affalterbach as well as our colleagues at HPP in Brixworth never gave up and continued to push the dream of this vehicle. This success is the well-deserved reward for their hard work. Although the AMG One is certainly more at home on a Grand Prix circuit than on the Nordschleife, we simply took it a step further. We are the first to have taken on the challenges of the Nürburgring with a hypercar. This is also what makes this project so unique and I am very happy with this fantastic time. »

The Etoile firm steals the record from a neighboring but rival brand: Porsche. Indeed, the GT2 RS in Manthey-Racing finish could until then boast of being the fastest production car on the Green Hell with a time of 6'43'300. The Mercedes-AMG One was eight seconds better.

However, the two vehicles are absolutely not built in the same philosophy. The Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey-Racing is powered by a 700 horsepower twin-turbo flat-six engine while the Mercedes has to deal with an engine derived from F1 (a thermal unit and four electric motors) for 1 horsepower in total . Which inevitably leads to a huge difference in the maintenance of the car, the overhaul of which occurs earlier than the Porsche.

For the record, this Porsche modified by the Manthey-Racing team had stolen the previous record in 2021… from Mercedes, which had held it via the AMG GT Black Series since 2020!