Mercedes-Benz introduces Safety, Medical cars for 2015 Formula One season

With just a week to go before the opening race of the 2015 Formula One World Championship in Melbourne, Australia, Mercedes-Benz has just revealed this year's Safety and Medical cars with the AMG GT S and the C63 Estate.

The AMG GT S will fulfill the role of the safety car and gets an LED light bar that is mounted on top of a carbon fiber air scoop which is specific only to the safety car. When turned on, the orange light indicates that Formula One cars cannot overtake the car while a green light allows the race cars to overtake the AMG GT S.

Additional Formula One equipment fitted on the safety car include: two radio systems, wireless local area network (WLAN) connectivity, a high resolution GPS and a transponder system . It will be driven by Bernd Maylander who has been Formula One's official safety car driver since 2000.

It is powered by the same production 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that cranks out 510 PS along with 650 Nm of torque. It is mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox that allows it to sprint from 0 – 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds before reaching a top speed of 310 km/h.

Designated as the medical car is the C63 Estate which also gets an LED light bar, headlights and taillights with signaling function and an illuminated rear plate with 'Medical Car' lettering. Other features present in the C63 Estate medical car include a AMG Ride Control Suspension, a radio system, WLAN connectivity with hotspot support and emergency equipment such as a respirator and a defibrillator.

The main driver of the medical car will be South African racing driver Alan van der Merwe while the co-driver will be FIA Head Physician Dr. Ian Roberts. During each race, they will be accompanied by two assistant medics that will come from a hospital that is nearest to the track.

Under the hood, the C63 is also powered by the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 found in the AMG GT S. The engine also produces 510 PS but has an additional 700 Nm of torque, 50 Nm more than the AMG GTS. It is also mated to a 7-speed DCT gearbox and can go from 0 – 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds and has an electronically limited top-speed of 250 km/h.