Bernd Mayländer

Bernd Michael Mayländer 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 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.

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.

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.

† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.
¹ - Shanghai was a non-championship round.

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.