It’s the Mercedes-AMG One and everyone else.
The German marque’s $2.7 million hypercar just became the first street-legal vehicle to circle the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in under 6:30. In doing so, the Formula 1-inspired vehicle broke a record … that it set two years ago.
What’s the best way to protect a record? You put it even further out of reach. That seems to be Mercedes’ thinking at least. The One didn’t just break its old record, it shattered it. During the latest run, the hypercar, which was driven on both runs by Marco Engel, sped around the winding circuit in 6:29.090. That’s more than six seconds faster than the 6:35.183 it posted in November of 2022 (which was itself eight seconds quicker than the previous mark).
So how did the AMG One cut six seconds from its Green Hell lap time in less than two years? The car itself remains the same, but the big difference this time was the weather. Mercedes never seemed fully satisfied with the first mark, citing the weather and less-than-ideal track conditions. This time the track’s surface was completely dry, allowing the car to attain what the company called the “perfect grip.”
Additionally, Engel and the rest of the AMG team would appear to have a better understanding of the hypercar two years on. In a press release announcing the new mark, Mercedes said that the driver utilized the vehicle’s “Race Plus” mode,” as well as its Energy Flow Control and Drag Reduction systems.
“Two years ago, the conditions were not ideal, and some sections of the track were still a little damp. We knew we could do more, and we wanted to show that,” Engel said in a statement. “Today we were able to demonstrate the maximum potential of the AMG One.”
It shouldn’t be a huge surprise to see the AMG One set another record. This is exactly what the futuristic hypercar, which is powered by an F1-derived 1.6-liter V-6 and four electric motors that combine to pump out over 1,000 hp, was designed to do. In the two years since going into production, the vehicle has also set lap records at the Hockenheimring, the Red Bull Ring, and the Monza circuit. From the beginning, AMG promised that its hypercar would push boundaries and so far it’s done just that.
