Mercedes’ F1 car for the road takes shape

A new F1-inspired Mercedes-Benz is due to hit Australian roads next year, and it could be the wildest car you’ve ever seen.

Mercedes-AMG is putting the finishing touches on Project One.

It turns out building a Formula 1 car for the road is a lot harder than bolting on a set of headlights and number plates.

Mercedes-AMG is still chipping away at the “One”, almost three years after its public debut at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show – and two years after its original on sale date.

Lewis Hamilton with the first Project One show car. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

We were there when Lewis Hamilton unveiled a supercar with the heart of his Grand Prix machine, and Mercedes promised to build a car unlike any other.

Powered by a tiny 1.6-litre V6 engine bolstered by turbocharging and hybridisation, the Project 1 promises more than 735kW (or 1000 horsepower) for wealthy customers looking to taste the pinnacle of motorsport.

The Mercedes-AMG Project One has an engine closely related to the world of F1.

Mercedes says the road-going cousin to its championship-winning machines will hit 200km/h in less than six seconds, making it one of the fastest-accelerating cars in the world.

Just 275 examples will be built, with eight coming to Australia.

Local customers paid a $500,000 deposit to secure a place in the queue.

Officially priced from €2.27 million ($3.74m), local customers can add almost $2 million in GST, import duty, luxury car tax and stamp duty.

Changes to Australian road rules allowing left-hand-drive supercars on public roads were mooted when the car was revealed, though those plans have been shelved.

The Mercedes-AMG One will be a beast on track.

Mercedes originally said customers would receive cars in 2019, but the latest word is that the first production machines will be built in early 2021.

The manufacturer has just started to performance test prototypes at full power, having focused on less exciting realities such as exhaust emissions and engine noise requirements.

Mercedes-AMG says the One will be among the world’s fastest cars.

Even getting the Grand Prix motor to idle at a reasonable level is a challenge, as Formula 1 cars idle at 5000rpm, an unacceptable figure for road-going machines.

With that work under control, Mercedes-AMG has ramped up dynamic development of the One, promising that it will appear on the gruelling Nurburgring test circuit for publicly visible testing soon.