Bernd Michael Mayländer (born 29 May 1971) is a German racing driver and current Formula One safety car driver.
Racing career Mayländer started his career in karting at the end of the 1980s. In the following years, he made his way to the Formula Ford, the Porsche Carrera Cup and the original DTM. When the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series was resumed in 2000, he drove for Mercedes-Benz. He raced for Mercedes in DTM from 2001 to 2004, having won one race at Hockenheimring in 2001.
Safety car driver in Formula One
Mayländer is the safety car driver for all Formula One races. He has driven the Formula One safety car since 2000 with very few exceptions, such as the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix and 2001 Canadian Grand Prix, when he was injured and was replaced by Marcel Fässler and the 2002 United States Grand Prix when he was replaced by Irish racing driver Damien Faulkner.
As of 2018, Mayländer had led over 700 laps in Formula One during his career. Peter Tibbetts serves as his map reader.
During a test prior to the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, after brake failure, Mayländer spun the safety car crashing into a barrier to reduce impact speed at the Parabolica. He and passenger Richard Darker were not injured in the incident.
Other In May 2005, Mayländer was one of six Mercedes-Benz drivers taking part in a record drive. Three stock E320 CDI cars drove in 30 days around the clock, which resulted in an average speed of .
Racing record
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts 1995 Persson Motorsport Mercedes C-Class V6 HOC113 HOC2NC AVU1Ret AVU218 NOR116 NOR27 DIE19 DIE210 NÜR111 NÜR211 ALE113 ALE2Ret HOC19 HOC18 20th 12 2001 Manthey Racing AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2001 HOCQR9 HOCCR9 NÜRQR11 NÜRCR20 OSCQR OSCCR SACQR SACCR NORQR NORCR LAUQR8 LAUCR13 NÜRQR5 NÜRCR7 A1RQR9 A1RCRRet ZANQRRet ZANCRDNS HOCQR2 HOCCR1 11th 28 2002 Manthey Racing AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2001 HOCQR HOCCR ZOLQR19 ZOLCR16 DONQR14 DONCR9 SACQR19 SACCR13 NORQR11 NORCR8 LAUQR17 LAUCRRet NÜRQR21† NÜRCR14 A1RQR16 A1RCRRet ZANQR17 ZANCR11 HOCQR12 HOCCRRet 19th 0 2003 Persson Motorsport AMG-Mercedes CLK 2002 HOC11 ADR10 NÜR17 LAU16 NORRet DON12 NÜR14 A1R15 ZAN16 HOC20† 19th 0 2004 Team Rosberg AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2003 HOC14 EST18 ADRRet LAURet NOR13 SHA1DNS NÜR15 OSC19 ZAN15 BRN16 HOC14 20th 0 † Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance. 1 - Shanghai was a non-championship round.
Complete International Touring Car Championship Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Pts 1995 Persson Motorsport Mercedes C-Class V6 MUG112 MUG210 HEL19 HEL29 DON111 DON28 EST112 EST213 MAG1Ret MAG212 19th 8 1996 Persson Motorsport Mercedes C-Class HOC1Ret HOC2Ret NÜR116 NÜR2Ret EST114 EST2Ret HEL111 HEL27 NOR116† NOR211 DIE119 DIE214 24th 15 Warsteiner Mercedes-AMG SIL114 SIL2Ret NÜR111 NÜR29 MAG1Ret MAG2DNS MUG1Ret MUG2Ret HOC19 HOC2Ret INT116 INT27 SUZ18 SUZ2Ret † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Champion Racing Dirk Müller Bob Wollek Porsche 911 GT3-R GT 292 19th 2nd
References
External links
Profile at Formula1.com