Mercedes Returns as Sole F1 Safety Car Provider with New Red AMG GT
Mercedes is bringing back a striking red safety car that will oversee every Formula 1 race throughout the 2026 season. This marks the first time since 2021 that Mercedes will be the exclusive safety car provider, ending the rotation system with Aston Martin that’s been in place the last few years.
The new safety car is based on the AMG GT Black Series and it’s a beast.
Under the hood sits a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with a special dry-sump lubrication system that helps it handle the demands of extended track sessions without overheating.
This thing packs serious power—between 720 and 730 horsepower with about 800 Nm of torque. That makes it one of the most powerful V8 engines Mercedes has ever put in a road-legal car.
The numbers are pretty impressive. It can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.2 seconds and hit top speeds around 325 km/h whether on the road or track.
Mercedes will also continue providing the medical car—the AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+. The Aston Martin DBX medical car won’t be returning to F1 circuits.
2026 is a big year for the Mercedes-F1 safety car partnership, which celebrates its 30th anniversary. The relationship began back at the 1996 French Grand Prix on June 30.
The German carmaker hit another milestone last year in Austin, celebrating its 500th Grand Prix as F1’s official safety car supplier.
Speaking of milestones, veteran safety car driver Bernd Mayländer is set to reach his 500th Grand Prix in Melbourne this March. He’s been behind the wheel for more than two decades, having started the job back in 2000.
Christoph Sagemüller, who heads up Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, said: “Safety is an absolutely central value of our brand and our products. That is why we have been providing the Official FIA F1 Safety and Medical Car in Formula 1 since 1996.”
“From the 2026 season onwards, the FIA F1 Official Cars will once again bear the star at all F1 events. In this way, we will continue to make an active contribution to safety in the premier class of motorsport.”
He added that Formula 1 isn’t just a sporting platform for Mercedes-AMG, but “also an environment in which the performance, reliability, and safety of our vehicles become visible under extreme conditions.”
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