The “James Bond” of Formula 1 is celebrating his birthday

Mayländer will also be in action at the Grand Prix in Spielberg this weekend and will once again feel a bit like the legendary film character James Bond. Because the British secret agent drives an Aston Martin in his films, just like Mayländer on the world's F2021 race tracks since 1. “When I get into the green Aston Martin, I feel a little like James Bond,” said Mayländer, who comes from Waiblingen near Stuttgart, in an interview on the F1 website. However, Mayländer does not take any daring risks in chases; rather, as a safety car pilot, he slows down the field of drivers after accidents or incidents until the danger has been eliminated.

He has two cars at his disposal, a Mercedes and an Aston Martin. The Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series is the most powerful safety car to date with over 730 hp and can drive up to 325 km/h. The Aston Martin Vantage “only” has 535 hp available. Two safety cars from each manufacturer and two medical cars are ready for use per race weekend. The safety car has been used more than 300 times so far, Mayländer has more than 430 Formula 1 races in his CV, more than F1 record man Fernando Alonso (364).

He would like to drive faster For Mayländer, the race weekend always begins on Thursday with the so-called high-speed tests, an hour on the track with fast laps to get used to it. During the race, the brakes are applied more often. “I would like to drive as fast as possible, it’s in the DNA of a racing driver. But as a safety car that is often not possible because something is on the track or there are marshals on the track,” said the former DTM driver.

During the race, Mayländer relies on the support of co-driver Richard Darker, who keeps an eye on the race and the GPS data from the cars on two monitors in the car. “Four eyes and four ears see and hear more,” emphasized Mayländer. In terms of technology, the safety car is like an airplane cockpit and the technical development since its debut in Australia in 2000 is very exciting.

The Mercedes Safety Car. © APA/afp / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

In addition to the race track, the father of five-year-old twin sons is passionate about producing wine. Mayländer has been trying to be a hobby winemaker for two years now; the fine wines are called Samu Rose, Myri Rotwein Cuvee or Bela Blanc de Noire - named after Mayländer's children and wife. Zweigelt and Riesling are now also part of Mayländer's repertoire.

The safety car did its first laps in Canada in 1973, but not without problems. Because in Mosport Park, safety car driver Eppie Wietzes in his lemon-yellow Porsche 914 did not line up in front of the leader, but a little further back. At the end there were discussions about who actually won the race. A month earlier, the “Pace Car Control System” had been tested once, at what was then the Österreichring in Spielberg.

A fixed component Before the start of the Mercedes era in the late 90s, Renault, Lamborghini, Porsche, Honda, Opel and Fiat were also used as SC. After its debut in 1973, it was only 20 years later that it became a regular part of Formula 1. Nowadays, the safety car is an integral part of Formula 1, just like Bernd Mayländer, who is far from thinking about retiring.

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The “James Bond” of Formula 1 is celebrating his birthday

The safety car in Formula 1 is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season. Bernd Mayländer has been behind the wheel of the safety car since 2000; the 52-year-old German has completed more leading laps in the premier class in the name of safety than anyone else.

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