Mercedes-AMG One sets new Nürburgring lap record

The Mercedes-AMG One is the newly crowned king of the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Packed with Formula One-derived hybrid technology and rolling on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R MO tyres, this 782kW German hypercar was flung around the damp 20.8km circuit by racing driver and AMG brand ambassador Maro Engel in a time of 6 min 35.183 seconds. This means that the Mercedes-AMG One beats the previous road-legal production car record held by the Porsche 911 GT2 fitted with the Manthey Performance Kit by eight seconds.

“That was really an unforgettable experience,” said Engel after completing the record lap.

“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 and was therefore tricky. That was a special challenge. We tried to find the optimal deployment strategy during the pretests. 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. I would like to thank Mercedes-AMG for this opportunity and the trust they placed in me. It was definitely very special to drive this incredible car on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.”

The all-wheel-drive car combines a rear mid-mounted F1-derived 1.6l V6 turbo engine, which revs to an astounding 11,000rpm, and four electric motors.

It’s capable of 0-200km/h in under six seconds, says Mercedes-AMG, with a top speed in excess of 350km/h. 

The car has a carbon-fibre body with active aerodynamics and a pushrod suspension. It also features the AMG Performance 4MATIC+ fully variable all-wheel drive with torque vectoring.

The plug-in hybrid sports car will be made in a limited series of 275 units, all of them already sold at a price of $2.72m (R47m).