The 2022 F1 season will start on March 18 with the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix and like usual Mercedes-Benz will ensure the safety of the championship with two exceptional performance models. One of them is the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, which, for the 2022 racing season, will be used as the Safety Car.

What's different on the 2022 Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series Safety Car?

The 2022 AMG GT Black Series Safety Car is almost identical to the production car. In fact, it is even missing the usual light bar on the roof, because Mercedes didn't want it to interfere with the car's aerodynamic balance. It was replaced by signaling lights incorporated into the upper area of the windscreen and rearward-facing lights integrated into the rear spoiler.

The model will also be equipped with three small orange light modules and one large green module positioned on each side of the AMG logo, and, in the back, 13 orange lights and four wider, green LED modules will be placed in the main upper blade of the rear spoiler. There will also be two tiny video cameras installed into the spoiler strut: one will serve as an electronic rear-view mirror for the co-driver, while the other one will transmit a live TV stream.

And, since we were talking about color lights, let's see what they mean. When the Safety Car is called into service, the orange lights are turned on and the drivers on the track can't overtake it. When the lights are green the drivers can overtake the safety car.

On the interior, the Safety Car is equipped with the AMG Track Package. It includes lightweight bucket seats, a lightweight roll cage made from bolted tubular titanium, and the six-point safety harnesses required by FIA. This special AMG GT Black Series will also get two tablets in the center console and instrument panel equipped with InCar Hotspot with WLAN. A second radio will work as an emergency backup, two red buttons will control all radio commands and two rotary knobs will adjust the volume.

Under the hood, the car retains the same twin-turbo, 4.0-liter V-8 engine that delivers a total of 720 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. It goes from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.2 seconds, while top speed goes up to an impressive 202 mph.

The AMG GT Black Series Safety Car, however, gets a special suspension set-up combined with Pirelli P Zero tires. This will ensure the best handling on all racetracks and weather conditions.

“Recent years have seen Mercedes-AMG celebrate a huge number of amazing successes in the FIA Formula One World Championship. Eight constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ titles in the last eight years speak emphatically for themselves. Added to that is the extensive and widespread transfer of technology and image from this greatest of all motorsport stages and our series-production vehicles. Motorsport means so much to us, as does the best possible level of safety. There was absolutely no question that, after more than 25 years, we would extend our commitment as the provider of the safety car and medical car – with two absolutely outstanding vehicles from our line-up”, explains Philipp Schiemer, CEO of Mercedes‑AMG GmbH.