My terrifying stint driving F1 safety car at Silverstone

Times

6 days ago

Driving the safety car around a track at Silverstone hammers home how speed is relative. Watch the Aston Martin flying around a Formula 1 grand prix and they appear to be creeping around in neutral, compared with the competitors. Then you sit in the passenger seat next to Bernd Mayländer or Karl Reindler and you realise that they are on the edge.
On a remarkably wet Thursday in June, Aston Martin invited The Times to Silverstone to handle the Vantage safety car and the DBX707 medical car for ourselves, and to speak to the men behind the wheel. What are my high-speed bona fides? I'm glad you asked. I was caught speeding twice in the space of four minutes in 2016, on the approach to Cardiff from Aberavon Rugby Club, at 46mph and 34mph respectively (I thought it was still 70mph), and 13 days before this event, I placed fifth out of 17 in go-karting on a Ljubljana stag do.
The safety car is deployed from near the track to control the field while a dangerous incident, such as a crash or breakdown, is dealt with, causing the competitors to slow down and bunch up before restarting proper racing. The medical car follows the pack on the opening lap and waits until they are required, speeding around to offer first-response assistance, before 'getting the show on the road'.
According to data supplied by Aston Martin (who share duties with Mercedes over a campaign), their safety car was deployed seven times over the course of 12 races last season for a total of 20 laps, and the medical car 19 times. After six grands prix this season, the safety car has already had eight deployments for 34 laps, while the medical car has had ten deployments.
How fast are we talking with these vehicles? The Vantage can accelerate up to 60mph in 3.4seconds, with a top speed of 195mph. On a short, winding circuit, Mayländer and Reindler approach only half that, but it is still enough to instil the fear of the divine into a first-time track user such as myself. They talk as if hurtling around a race track is a walk in the park, rather than a curdling of stomachs at 100mph.
They simulate a race start, and Reindler in particular shows his skills in sliding around a bend at a speed I deem unnecessary. Every fibre in my body tells me we are destined to topple over, yet this is controlled oversteer by a professional in a luxury SUV. I have absolutely no desire to copy it. The conditions are such that my lack of petrolheadedness and love of 60mph is masked by the drenching of rain, worthy of a red flag in a race proper. My aim for the day is to get home. I feel the need not for speed, but for lunch.
F1 first deployed a safety car — a yellow Porsche 914 — at the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix. It is much more professional now: Mayländer described the interior of the car as like an aircraft cockpit, with constant communication between him, his co-driver and race control. He was not an F1 driver but had been competing in the Porsche Supercup when asked to fulfil the role, and made his debut on March 12, 2000. Twenty-five years later he remains in post. An F1 celebrity in his own right, who has led more laps than most drivers ever will. 'I interviewed the safety-car driver,' I told my brother-in-law. 'Bernd Mayländer?' he replied.
'I have no problem to give autographs, selfies — it's great because I think if people are asking you for a selfie, that means it's a positive thing,' Mayländer, 54, says. 'It's great to have fans around the world, but for sure compared to other people, I'm quite normal.'
Reindler shares duties with Bruno Correia as driver of the 'fastest ambulance in the world', enabling him to spend some time at home in Australia. His interest in safety came from his own career in motorsport. 'I had a very big accident myself in 2011,' Reindler, 40, says. 'The car caught on fire and I was rushed to hospital with burns to my face and hands and leg.
'As a young driver, you think you're invincible and you have to think that you're invincible. Otherwise, what are you even doing? You need the conviction when you're driving. And it was a bit of a turning point for me because I quickly realised I am human and I'm not invincible.
'The rewarding part of it for me is this continuous improvement. We've seen just how far we've come in the sport. Everyone talks about that fateful weekend at Imola in 1994 with Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna, of course. That was probably the big turning point for the sport. But there's this constant progression and need and desire to be better and safer.'
Since Senna, Jules Bianchi is the only driver to have died after a collision in an F1 race, yet crashes still occur. When Max Verstappen struck a barrier at the 2021 British Grand Prix, the impact was measured at 51G.
Mayländer et al arrive at a race on Wednesday. Track walk and testing on Thursday, media on a quiet Friday, then a weekend of races. It is a familiar routine given Mayländer has missed only a handful of grands prix over the past 25 years (though he still has time for a business — Mayländer Wine — on the side). 'I'm happy to have my 25th anniversary, let's see what's the next one,' he says.
'I have already had many busy days, even if you just think about this year in Melbourne, it was quite busy. If I look really into the history: 2007 Fuji was very busy, we didn't expect in the morning that we were doing so many laps; 2011 Montreal, the longest Formula 1 race ever, I was on track for 34 laps, in between two red flags.'
Both men live in a world where having nothing to do is the best, safest course of a day. 'A weekend with no deployments, while boring per se, it's a successful weekend,' Reindler says.
'We have a full suite of medical equipment. We have a defibrillator, oxygen, trauma kit, burns kit. We always have a local doctor with us because they can legally practise medicine in that respective country. You have all sorts of drugs required for that first level of intervention.
'We also have first-response equipment. We have two different types of fire extinguishers in the car. We have the jaws of life. The Holmatro device, which can cut through the titanium halo, cut through Armco [crash barriers] if we needed to remove any hazards or obstacles for us. There's electrical safety equipment as well, because the hybrid systems in these modern F1 cars now, it's a very small risk. But we cater to that minimal risk of electrocution.'
Despite their important roles on race day, they enjoy the thrill of driving around a track at speed, like the competitors. 'My favourite circuits are probably the old-school circuits,' Reindler says. 'Suzuka is the first one that comes to mind. It's high speed. It's narrow.
'No matter how many times you go to Monaco, my heart rate will sit 20 or 30 beats per minute higher driving around there than anywhere else because it's just zero margin for error around that place, going through the tunnel. You finish a lap there and you take a breath, you wipe the sweat off your brow. It's a rewarding feeling when you're driving around those sorts of circuits.'
Reindler is generous with his encouragement as he accompanies my drive around the track, a hare giving a pep talk to a tortoise. Meanwhile Mayländer has to turn the safety car on for me because I forgot how to (what's the world got against a key in an ignition?). They are the men who embody the paradoxes of motorsport: safety in danger. For me, back to my red car (the extent of my knowledge) and a peaceful drive home.