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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 Mike-Seymour.png
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6 hours ago

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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.

Play Video
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.

READ MORE: From Brawn GP’s fairytale to Aston Martin’s super start – The biggest year-on-year performance jumps in F1 history

“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.

Play Video
New Aston Martin & Mercedes Safety Cars take to the track in Bahrain
After some final tests on Friday morning, the track action begins for F1
and the various support categories involved at any given event on the
calendar, with Maylander getting set for a busy weekend of racing that culminates in the main event, the Grand Prix itself.

“Let’s say, the last minutes before the pit lane gets opened for the F1 cars, I know exactly what I have to do,” he says of the build-up to
lights out on race day. “I get changed, put my shoes on, first the
right, then the left – that’s one thing that I’m usually doing – then I’m walking to the grid.

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“There’s a check lap from the Race Director, Niels Wittich; a closing
lap, we call it, for track inspections. He’s usually doing this before
all F1 free practice sessions, qualifying sessions, Sprint races or the
main race on Sunday – it’s always up to the Race Director.

“I make a radio check when I’m on the grid and when Niels is out of the car, then I’m checking the car and waiting until the 10 minutes sign for
the formation lap, and the green flag lap. Then you’re in the car. When
the lights are off and the race is on, you never know what happens – you
have to be ready for every situation.”

But this is not all dealt with alone. Like Tibbetts before him, current co-driver Richard Darker acts as another crucial pair of eyes and ears –
and makes use of the technology and communication advancements covered
earlier – to free up Maylander to focus on driving.

maylander-feature-4.png
Maylander and co-driver Darker have formed a strong partnership in the
Safety Car
“For sure, my co-driver is really important,” Maylander explains. “He’s a spotter, he’s doing all the communications things [with Race Control].
Four eyes and four ears see and hear more, and in the Safety Car it’s
like an airplane cockpit [with the technology].

“You have to do the right decisions in the right moments and you have to understand everything and see what’s going on, and it’s quite helpful if you have someone next to you. Even if you have a normal race and nothing
to do, it’s good to not be alone in the car.”

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Working closely with the teams and drivers
For every ‘normal race’, there’s another featuring plenty of drama – and
the need for Safety Car interventions – just around the corner. Indeed, Maylander has completed hundreds of laps at the head of the F1 field,
meaning plenty of world champions have filled his mirrors and pushed him
around the track.

Asked about working with the different personalities up and down the
grid, he comments: “I have with all the drivers a good relationship. For sure, you always talk to one or the other more than two other ones, but
I think that’s a completely normal character thing.

“If the drivers have something to talk directly to me, they always can
talk to me. We see [each other] many times during a race weekend, then
for sure on the Friday evening when we have the drivers’ meeting, they
always can ask questions about a Safety Car, they’re also talking to
Niels the Race Director and Niels is coming back to me.

maylander-feature-5.png
Working with the drivers is an important part of Maylander’s job
“I have my full information from Race Control and they guided me in a different way than a race driver, and in that moment I have to say
‘safety first’, and that’s the reason why sometimes also we discuss
about the Safety Car.

“I would prefer to go always as quick as possible in the Safety Car, I
think that’s in the DNA of a race driver, but the Safety Car sometimes
cannot go at maximum speed because there is something on the track, the
track is nearly blocked, or marshals are on the track or whatever.

LISTEN: Who’s the most aggressive driver behind the Safety Car? Bernd Maylander reveals all in Beyond The Grid

“I’m a completely open door for everyone if they want to understand some situations. It’s working together, explaining the situations, why the
Safety Car was slow. There’s a communication and I just try to explain
the situation, why it was like that.”

The races that stand out in Maylander’s mind
Maylander’s tally of laps led have come from almost 300 appearances
between his first in Australia in 2000 and his most recent in Azerbaijan
in 2023, but two of the wettest races in F1 history spring to mind as he
looks back at the full list.

“Let’s say, if you have a race like Fuji in 2007, where you were leading
25 laps, then Montreal in 2011, where we led for almost 30 laps – one of
the longest races ever… If you’re driving in very difficult conditions
and you don’t make any mistakes, for sure those are the big moments,” he says.

maylander-feature-6.png
Maylander and the F1 field faced particularly tricky conditions at the
2007 Japanese Grand Prix
“Or when you have big people next to you who you’ve picked up and take
back to the pits after the race – that’s always great. Like with Michael Schumacher in 2001, when he stopped at Hockenheim and he was watching
the race from the first chicane. I saw him on my last lap and he jumped
in my car, and for sure those are moments you will never forget.

“I don’t want to say I’ve been a part of [these races], but I saw it live, I saw it in the mirror, and I think that’s something that you
never will forget in your life. Those are the good things, the
spectacular things, and for sure you have some races with big accidents.

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“Not everything is nice and spectacular, great and fantastic, so
sometimes you have to also cover moments that are not really nice. It’s
up to everyone how they can work with that; I think everyone does this
in a different way, and I do this in my way.”

What the future holds for the Safety Car
As for what’s next, Maylander made clear that he is not intending to
stop driving the Safety Car anytime soon and, as one of the most
experienced members of the F1 paddock, took a moment to highlight some
more of the positive developments he has seen during his time in the sport.

“I’m absolutely ready for even more years,” he says. “I don’t feel like
52 in my brain. I’m still on fire, I’m still nervous on the grid, I’m still full of passion. And in my time, in the last 24 years, it was
quite exciting to see the step we have done. Every year, with every
deployment, we are still learning – it’s never a step backward, it’s always a step forward.

maylander-feature-7.png
Maylander is proud of how stakeholders have worked together to improve
the sport
“I think 20 years ago, I never expected to give an interview on 50 years
of the FIA F1 Safety Car – that was not my plan. It’s growing in a
really nice way and it’s fantastic to do this. That’s what we have done
all together, everyone in F1, and the best thing is also the fans
outside realise that it’s something very special, and without the fans
we would not be where are right now.

“What I’m really proud of, what I could absolutely see in the last
years, is how we’re working together, the FIA, FOM [Formula One
Management], Liberty Media, the teams… That was a big, big step, because everything gets more open. We are one big family.

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“I’m just there for the sport and for safety, and it’s always really
cool to see that in such a different way. F1 was always great, but what
it is at the moment is absolutely fantastic. I’m happy to be there and
to see that every weekend.”

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