Abu Dhabi Week catches up with Formula 1 safety car driver Bernd Mayländer ahead of the final race of the season.
How did you start driving the F1 safety car?
The AMG Safety Car has been in Formula 1 since 1996, and I’ve been driving it since 2000.
This is now my 11th season, but a lot of this is down to luck. The FIA asked me if I wanted to drive the safety car in 1999 at the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy, but that was for the Formula 3,000 (now the GP2 series). Since 2000 though I have been driving in the Formula 1 and the support races.
It’s really a full-time job, as I spend around 100 days travelling to all of the races. Abu Dhabi has been one of the highlights since last year, as the last race in the season, and the competition is certainly more open this year.
Is the SLS really the best safety car you’ve driven?
I think so now, but I also thought the CL55 was the best safety car. The models are getting faster and faster, and more and more sporty. In 1996 we started with an AMG C36, with 300 horsepower and right now we have 571 horsepower in a V8 6.3 engine.
The new AMG SLS is by far the quickest car I’ve driven. It’s a lot of fun as it’s a GT car; nearly like a real racecar, but it was developed for the road, so it’s a very extraordinary car. Absolutely.
How does Yas Marina compare to some of the other F1 circuits?
It’s a fantastic race circuit, and we’ll be there for the second time this year.
When it opened everyone was really surprised by what they’d managed to build there. We’d heard a lot about Abu Dhabi, but when we saw it we were really impressed by its size, the facilities – with the harbour and the hotels also as part of the circuit.
It’s a fabulous race circuit. The north part is like an original race circuit and the other part is more like a street circuit, around the hotel. As you race towards the marina, you feel really close to the water, and you can see the yachts. It’s also a very safe circuit. The standards at a lot of the new circuits have improved. The run-off areas are larger.You have a lot of tricky corners and very quick hairpins, plus a very special pit exit; you have to cross the race circuit from the right side to the left side of the circuit via a tunnel. This is unique in Formula 1.
Is it your favourite circuit?
It’s one of my favourites, but I’m also a big fan of Monaco and Suzuka.
Yas Marina is a great circuit though. The weather is more or less always good and the people of the Middle East are very friendly. We’re always made to feel welcome, so it’s a nice place to be.
Do you have a favourite stretch of the circuit?
I love the part after the pit straight, after turn 1, 2 and 3, when you turn on to the hairpin. This is a really quick corner and as you drive down to the hairpin, it’s like you’re in a big stadium. This can be quite a tricky stretch, but it’s great.
Have you ever had a really scary experience while driving?
I’ve never lost control. You have to drive to the limit in the safety car, especially during the F1 race, but I’ve never gone past the limit. I’ve been a race driver for many years, but in the safety car you have to be always safe. You’re never driving at 100 percent, 99 percent is enough. It can be quite tricky, as a race driver, to not push it that bit further, but you’re not there to win the race, you have to remember that. There have been many times when I have had to remind myself of that. In South Korea I drove for 24 laps altogether, so in the end I felt like I was racing! I get to push the car to the absolute limit on the Thursday, when we have our track test. This is my personal practice session, and I drive really hard, to know the limits of the car, and to prepare myself to drive safely.
Would you say driving the safety car for the F1 has been your career highlight?
For sure. It’s different to driving in races, but this is my 11th season and it’s a great job.
I’m a race driver, and of course I have had a few highlights in my career, like winning the 24-hour race or one of the FIA GT championship races, but these are different highlights.
What will you do next?
I’m 39 years old, so I’m still OK to drive for the Formula 1 for a few more years. I’m also the brand ambassador for Mercedes, and I work a lot with Mercedes AMG on their Performance Tour events – like the one we did last month in Abu Dhabi. I do so much with Formula 1 and Mercedes that I’m sure there will be a few more options for me, even when I’m 50 or older, inside motorsport, or for Mercedes.
Is there a car that you haven’t driven, that you’d like to drive?
I drove an F1 car in 1992, but to drive one of the new models would be a real treat. Having this job is really like all of my dreams coming true, so there really are not that many cars that I haven’t driven.
Who do you think will win this year?
This is really one of the best seasons I’ve seen in Formula 1. There are four drivers who could win. Alsonso is in the best position, but Mark Weber is also in a good position.
Hamilton and Vettel are also still in the championship. Vettel is German, so my heart’s behind him, but I was also team-mates with Weber in 1997 and 1998.
What do you think of Abu Dhabi?
I’m a big fan of the Middle East. I visited the UAE for the first time in 2002 on holiday.
I love coming down to Yas; everything is organised, there’s nice weather, the hotels are good, the people are so friendly. Maybe I’ll come back in December for a holiday!
