Mercedes-AMG ONE smashes Nurburgring lap record

The time-honoured struggle between Mercedes-AMG and Porsche for Nurburgring Nordschleife dominance has taken another turn with the former announcing its Formula 1-derived Mercedes-AMG ONE has clocked an official lap time of 6:35.183 – the fastest of any production vehicle to date.

Set by racing driver and AMG brand ambassador Maro Engel, the almost mind-bending time also makes the AMG ONE the first production car to lap the infamous German road circuit in less than 6:40, given the previous record holder – the Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR – stopped the clock in 6:43.300.

It’s probably not surprising the Affalterbach-born hypercar reeled off such a blistering time when you consider its electrified and turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 churns out 782kW and revs out to 11,000rpm, not to mention its active DRS aerodynamics and four-stage Energy Flow Control system (hybrid energy deployment).

Despite the rival-thumping time, Engel believes there’s more time to be had from the car pending more favourable conditions.

“That was really an unforgettable experience,” he said. “I didn’t expect that we would be able to set such a lap time with these track conditions.

“In some crucial areas of the track, it hadn’t dried completely yet and was therefore tricky. That was a special challenge.”

Engel added that one of the challenges on a track as long as the Nurburgring was managing the hybrid powertrain’s energy deployment system, which involved a fair bit of coasting, and he likened using the car’s DRS to an F1 experience.

Mercedes-AMG is also claiming to be the first manufacturer to attempt a Nurburgring lap record in a genuine super sports car – hypercar – which in addition to giving the brand the outright production car lap record, apparently gives it bragging rights over rival manufacturers like Aston Martin, McLaren and Ferrari.

“Even though the AMG ONE is certainly more at home on a Grand Prix circuit than on the Nordschleife – as is so often the case with this project – we’ve simply gone one step further,” AMG management board chairman Philipp Schiemer said.

“We’re the first ever to have taken on the challenges of the Nurburgring with a super sports car.

“That’s also what makes this project so unique and I’m very happy about this fantastic lap time.”

Whether or not other hypercar brands answer AMG’s challenge remains to be seen but, perhaps more intriguingly, the ball has now been thrown back in Porsche’s court to see if the Stuttgart sports car specialist can respond.

Porsche’s best chance at beating the ONE’s lap time will probably come in the form of the yet-to-be confirmed 992-series Porsche 911 GT2 RS which, if such a project is in the works, is probably still at least anther 12-18 months away.

The combination of the latest Porsche 911 GT3 RS’ brain-achingly extensive aerodynamic suite and aggressive chassis tune would undoubtedly pair well with an angrier version of the 911 Turbo’s stonking 478kW/800Nm force-fed flat-six and result in the most capable production 911 yet, but eight seconds is one hell of a margin to overcome.

Looks like we’re in for an interesting few years at the Nurburgring…

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