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Gearheads and racing fans have a new reason to celebrate as one of the world’s most venerated names in motorsport is unleashing a hypercar with Formula 1 technology on the road.
The Mercedes-AMG ONE hypercar is entering small-series production and 275 road-ready units will be built, with delivery expected by the end of the year.
“The Mercedes-AMG ONE is the most ambitious project we have ever undertaken - from development to production,” explained Mercedes AMG chairman Philipp Schiemer.
“The production of the exclusive small series is a truly unique challenge. For the first time, the hypercar brings current F1 hybrid technology almost one-to-one from the race track to the road and combines overwhelming performance with exemplary efficiency.
“This world first is now becoming a reality thanks to the great teamwork between Mercedes-AMG in Affalterbach, the F1 experts at Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth and our production partner Multimatic.”
The beast of a car is capable of jumping from 0-200kmph in less than six seconds, with a top speed of 350kmph. Under the hood, the engine produces 740kW of power, equivalent to more than 1,000 horsepower.
The F1 based hybrid powertrain with a 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine and four electric motors is being built by Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, who are also responsible for developing and producing the Power Units for the company’s F1 racing cars.
The production of the complete vehicle will be implemented in Coventry, UK, where a dedicated small series factory has been set up.
The Mercedes-AMG ONE’s production is completed by hand at 16 assembly and testing stations, with the company comparing the process to that of high quality luxury watches.
“Some sub-systems are first pre-assembled and tested for function, then disassembled again and only then finally installed in the vehicle,” the company explained in a statement.
“This applies, for example, to the carbon-fibre chassis with a bonded-in roof as well as all detachable body parts, which are also made of the light and stable, but also costly material.”
After the exterior skin is completely assembled, the 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine, the high-voltage battery and the total of four electric machines are assembled with the same processes as the company’s F1 power units.
In total, more than 50 specialists work on each Mercedes-AMG ONE. After each station, there are in-depth quality checks based on defined characteristics, resulting in extensive documentation of the production process.
The final stage of production is marked by a roll-out at a nearby proving ground, where each Mercedes-AMG ONE undergoes final acceptance testing by a factory test driver.
