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Hundreds of laps led, chauffeuring Schumacher and feeling like James
Bond – Bernd Maylander on life as the FIA F1 Safety Car driver
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This weekend, F1 is marking 50 years of the Safety Car – a machine that
transformed the sport when it was permanently introduced and one that
continues to play a key role in the running of each event. Behind the
wheel for almost 25 years has been Bernd Maylander, who tells us all
about the past, present and future of his job in a special interview…

At the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix, F1 history was made when a Safety Car –
or Pace Car – appeared on track for the very first time at Mosport Park,
with native racing driver Eppie Wietzes piloting a bright yellow Porsche
914 sporting matching flags at the rear.

TIMELINE: The 50-year history of the Safety Car’s evolution in Formula 1

While there were a few teething problems during that appearance, and the
Safety Car did not appear again for some three seasons, it represented a
significant development in the sport’s quest for improved safety and
offered a first glimpse at the future.

After several other outings over the next two decades with a Porsche 911
and Lamborghini Countach, it was the 1993 season that marked the
official introduction of the Safety Car, which took the form of a Fiat
Tempra, Ford Escort RS Cosworth, Opel Vectra, Honda Prelude, Porsche 911
GT2, Lamborghini Diablo and Renault Clio in the years that followed.

However, the arrival of the Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG midway through the
1996 campaign changed the game, with F1 and the German manufacturer
kick-starting a relationship that runs to this day – duties now split
with fellow car giant Aston Martin.

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F1 Firsts: The first Safety Car in F1
Maylander’s journey to the F1 grid
For almost all of that period, Maylander has been the driver trusted to
sit in the cockpit. Born just over two years before the Safety Car first
appeared, the German climbed the motorsport ranks in the early-1990s to
contest the DTM touring car and FIA GT championships in Mercedes
machines, alongside a race-winning stint in F1 support series Porsche
Supercup.

It was during his time in the Porsche Supercup category that Maylander
caught the eye of F1 Race Director Charlie Whiting and Deputy Race
Director Herbie Blash, who were looking to fill a position that had come
up in another series on the support bill: Formula 3000.

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“In 1999, I got a phone call from Herbie and Charlie,” says Maylander,
as we sit down to retrace his F1 journey. “They asked, ‘Bernd, you’re
driving in the Porsche Supercup, are you available to drive the Safety
Car for Formula 3000?’ I said, ‘Yes, why not?’ I knew the [Mercedes]
brand quite well, as I was racing for them.

“That was the first contact for me and an F1 paddock. I had never been
before in an F1 paddock in my life, I had just seen it in the
grandstands watching over the main straight into the paddock – that was
my highlight, let’s say, for that time.”

It would take just one year for Maylander to be promoted to the top
echelon, moving into the seat previously occupied by fellow racing
driver Oliver Gavin. And so, on March 12, 2000, at the season-opening
Australian Grand Prix, his F1 Safety Car adventure began…

maylander-feature-1.png
Maylander became the FIA F1 Safety Car driver almost 25 years ago
“I remember it exactly,” Maylander comments, with his own anniversary of
25 years driving the Safety Car edging closer. “Peter Tibbetts, who had
a lot of experience already as a co-driver, guided me a little bit. He
said, ‘Bernd, it’s the same [job as Formula 3000], it’s just a different
race time’.

“But the pressure… For sure, I was nervous. I got deployed as well
during the race. But you have to do your job. Driving-wise, it’s OK,
because I was used to driving a car on the limit – it was just a
different situation.”

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Except for a handful of missed races, (Monaco and Canada in 2001, and
the United States in 2002), Maylander has been the driver on call
between that weekend in Melbourne and this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Two decades of Safety Car improvements
Unsurprisingly, a huge amount has changed in F1 across this period, from
the technical regulations in place to the circuits on the calendar and
everything in between. As Maylander points out, the Safety Car operation
is no exception.

“It’s changed a lot,” he asserts. “Not [so much] driving-wise – for sure
now we are quicker, we have completely different cars – but
communication-wise. Right now, we have technology that’s used in a 100%
perfect way. You get all the information by radio, from the engineers,
from the screens that you have inside the Safety Car.

maylander-feature-2.png
Plenty of Safety Car advancements have been made over the last two decades
“I know if there is a blocked track, if I have to get past on the left
or right side, or maybe there’s an opportunity for a shortcut in a
corner, like Bahrain Turn 1… There’s GPS mapping, where the accident is,
and you can see how big the impact was by G-force.

“If we look backward 20 years ago, we were organised for that time, but
right now we have completely different opportunities technology-wise to
work much quicker and more professionally. You deploy on the track with
much more information, because the information is available.

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“Engineering-wise, technology-wise, what we have right now in the car is
a completely different thing than 25 years ago. We had the developments
from all the designers and engineers, and that helps also us, the FIA, a
lot to make better decisions, to work quicker, safer, to coordinate
things in a better way.”

Mr. Bernd or Mr. Bond?
Alongside those technology and communications-based changes, there have
also been strides in terms of the Safety Car itself, with Mercedes
introducing new model after new model before Aston Martin joined them as
an official supplier from the 2021 season.

Maylander describes it as “a full-time job” for the dedicated teams of
mechanics involved to prepare and maintain the cars from the Wednesday
to the Sunday of every Grand Prix weekend, while both manufacturers
“cover everything to 100%”.

maylander-feature-3.png
Aston Martin and Mercedes share supply duties for the current FIA F1
Safety Cars
“We have two brands now, which is fantastic, I have to say,” continues
Maylander. “We have two teams from each brand and there are usually
three mechanics with us, arriving on a Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday
morning at the track, preparing the two Medical Cars and two Safety Cars.

“The Mercedes is the last edition of the GT generation. It’s got 730bhp,
a V8, four-litre, double turbo engine, so really it’s a phenomenal track
car. Still, you can drive it on the road, but it’s more or less designed
for a racetrack with the aero package, the power package, the transaxle
and traction control…

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“The Aston Martin is the Vantage F1 Edition. I’m happy about the fact
that they joined the FIA [to also supply] the Safety Car and the Medical
Car. It’s a nice brand, a fantastic brand. When I jump in the green one,
the Aston, I feel a little bit like James Bond!

“Then we have a lot of suppliers looking after the electronic programmes
inside the Safety Car, communications things. There’s the GPS, the
paddle light system, so a lot you never expect that is helpful for us,
and what is also getting used in Formula 1 cars, like the marshalling
system, where you can see the light panels also inside the car.”

The routine for Maylander and his team
Maylander’s duties start on a Thursday with an initial check of the cars
that have been prepared by the aforementioned mechanics and a one-hour
circuit test, giving him the chance to “remember the track and get ready
for quick laps”, while making sure all the systems are working as they
should be – including internal and external cameras fitted by F1.