Mercedes-AMG Project ONE targets Nurburgring

Almost three years after its concept reveal at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show, one of the most insane road-legal machines ever conceived – powered by a modified Formula 1 race car engine outputting more than 1000hp or 735kW – has officially set sail.

After extensive testing on the dyno and significant delays since the car was first announced in September 2016, the final power unit for the $5 million Mercedes-AMG ONE hypercar has been deployed ahead of its first tilt at the Nurburgring.

Mercedes-Benz may also seek to test the ballistic hypercar -- pictured here in camouflaged final production form, which appears to remain largely faithful to the 2017 concept also pictured here -- at some F1 circuits, as the road-going model is a commercial extension of its dominance in the F1 championship.

Will records be broken? We’ll know soon enough: AMG has confirmed the ONE will tackle the infamous road track known as the Green Hell “shortly”, despite stating in 2018 that it wouldn't seek to set a new record at the 21km public road circuit.

Just 275 Mercedes-AMG ONEs will be built and all of them are already spoken for. Indeed, eight examples have already been snapped up by Aussie buyers, who will get to experience the insane spleen-popping acceleration and 350km/h-plus top speed that an F1 powerplant with mega-electric boosting can provide.

The final power output from the “comprehensively electrified and highly complex hybrid power unit” is more than 735kW (1000hp), according to AMG.

Until now AMG’s engine boffins had not dialled up the thrust to mild-melting levels away from test benches, but now several pre-production vehicles have been shown testing full power from the V6 engine and its quad electric motors at the car-maker's Immendingen proving ground in Germany.

The Mercedes-AMG ONE's active package has also moved from the wind tunnel to the test track, where real-world testing will take place for the “complex interplay between the various active components such as the louvres, the air outlets in the front fenders or the large rear aerofoil”.

Although it sounds like drivers will need an aerospace engineering degree just to power up the new Mercedes-AMG ONE, it should be a relatively straightforward vehicle to drive, given the intricate powertrain is controlled by a massive computer brain and an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Mercedes-AMG ONE will be capable of rocketing to 100km/h in less than 2.5 seconds and should dispatch the 0-200km/h sprint in less than six seconds – which would set a new record for a street-legal vehicle.

AMG’s astonishingly powerful 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine is a development of the championship-winning Mercedes F1 race car engine from 2014 and can rev beyond 11,000rpm. Electric motors on the front axle ensure the ONE can drive for up 25km on pure electricity, too.

Taking on the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar, which is powered by a significantly larger 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 hybrid powerplant (865kW/900Nm) driving the rear wheels, the game-changing Mercedes can deliver all-wheel drive traction from its petrol engine (rear wheels) and twin electric motors (front wheels).

There are another two electric motors, one of which spins up the turbocharger, while the other works directly on the crankshaft to reduce low-end and mid-range torque respectively.

The showroom battle between the Mercedes-AMG ONE and Aston Martin Valkyrie will be mirrored on track in 2021, when Aston Martin becomes a fully-fledged F1 team and rubs tyres with the seemingly-unstoppable Mercedes-AMG F1 team.

First customer deliveries of the Mercedes-AMG ONE will take place by March 2021. Owners will be expected to pay for a full engine rebuild at the end of its service life, which is just 50,000km, although not many are expected to travel that far.

“The objective of reaching a new dimension of driving dynamics and performance for a road-going vehicle with the Project ONE and thereby setting a new milestone in automotive history is thus gradually drawing closer for Mercedes-AMG,” said the AMG press statement today.

Stay tuned for more details -- and news of the $5m hypercar's attempt at the Nurburgring Nordschleife lap record.