What Cars Are Used as the F1 Safety Car and Who Drives It

In a sport like motor racing, especially Formula One, the safety of drivers and the marshals are highly important. Often at times, during an accident, the protocol is for the marshals to wave yellow flags to slow down the drivers running on the track. However, sometimes there are occasions where the yellow flags are not enough, so the F1 Safety Car gets deployed.

Normally, the Safety Car is driven by German driver Bernd Maylander, who has been in that role since 2000. Interestingly, he has never missed a race, except for the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix. This was because, he had injured his foot while trying to jump a fence.

However, the F1 safety car has been in use since 1993, on a permanent basis. Prior to that, it was first used in 1973 at the Canadian Grand Prix. At that time, a Porsche 914 was called in, in the wake of numerous incidents.

Unfortunately, the move turned out to be a bad call, as the Porsche ended up ahead of the wrong car. As a result, there was a lot of confusion regarding who was the winner.

Of course in 2019, all the safety cars driven, have been supplied from Mercedes-Benz. This was an arrangement that took place since 1996, but in previous years cars of different brands have been used. Though it is worth noting that it was dependent on the track visited.

In the 1980s, the Lamborghini Countach was used for the Monaco Grand Prix. Others include the Fiat Tempra at the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix and the Opel Vectra at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Here are the Mercedes cars, that have been used as safety cars.

1997-1999: Mercedes-Benz CLK 55 AMG

2000: Mercedes-Benz CL 55 AMG

2001–2002: Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG

2003: Mercedes-Benz CLK 55 AMG (C209)

2004–2005: Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG

2006–2007: Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG

2008–2009: Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG

2010–2012: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

2012–2014: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT

2015–2017: Mercedes-AMG GT S

2018—present: Mercedes-AMG GT R