Yet another lap record has been smashed by a new production car. This time involving the new Mercedes-AMG One hypercar, after it lapped Italy’s ‘temple of speed’ Monza circuit faster than any production car in history.
The Mercedes-AMG One is a watered-down Formula 1 car for the road, which conquered the Nurburgring’s Nordschleife in a record-breaking 6:35.183 in late 2022, which it has followed up with yet another production car lap record at Monza.
With the help of AMG driver Maro Engel behind the wheel, the customer-spec AMG One set a blistering lap record of 1:43.9 while riding on a set of road-legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres.
Development times for the Mercedes-AMG One project ballooned after reported performance issues stemming from particulate filters needed to get the 1.6-litre turbo hybrid unit in line with strict European emission regulations.
At one point, Mercedes chief, Ola Kallenius even joked that the board must have been drunk to approve such a radical production car design, with engineers struggling to get the F1-derived powertrain to idle at less than 4000rpm. AMG says the unit produces up to 782kW and offers a 0-100km/h sprint in 2.9 seconds and a 0-200km/h sprint in 7 seconds flat.
Customer orders have now kicked off for those lucky enough to secure one of the 275 units scheduled for production, and while the development has been a nightmare for Mercedes-AMG, it’s good to see some lap records tumbling to affirm their hard work in completing its ‘drunken’ moon-shot.
