The Mercedes safety car's 500th appearance in Austin.
The upcoming United States Grand Prix will be the 500th Formula 1 event in which Mercedes equipment has been used as the safety car. Specifically in Austin it will be the Mercedes‑AMG GT Black Series, which has been a Formula 1 safety car since 2022 alongside the Aston Martin Vantage and Aston Martin Vantage S.
Ahead of the race weekend Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff summed up the race in Singapore and talked about what to expect from the team in Austin.
Toto Wolff: "We achieved a great result in Singapore thanks to George Russell's victory and Kimi Antonelli's fifth place. The result was unexpected, but our performance level on Saturday and Sunday showed that it was not a fluke.
A feature of this season is that it's unclear which team will lead on any given weekend. We performed well in Azerbaijan, so it's interesting to see whether we can maintain the same level in the upcoming run of races in North and South America that we've already achieved in our work with the W16.
The upcoming circuits differ greatly in configuration and difficulty from the two street tracks in Baku and Singapore, so there will be an element of surprise, but it's precisely that unpredictability that makes the sport so exciting.
The Austin circuit has become iconic for Formula 1 thanks to the large number of passionate fans and the fantastic city. COTA is characterized by elevation changes, an impressive first corner, and a mix of fast sections and slow zones for acceleration. Here the cars face a real test.
Add to that the sprint format this season, which creates not only additional challenges but also new opportunities if we can quickly bring the W16 into its operating window.
We are also pleased to celebrate this weekend the 500th race for Mercedes‑AMG as a safety car. This milestone attests to the company's commitment to the heights of motorsport, as well as to the longevity, technical innovation and beauty of our cars."
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The Mercedes safety car's 500th appearance in Austin.
The upcoming United States Grand Prix will be the 500th Formula 1 race in which Mercedes vehicles have been used as the safety car.