Bernd Mayländer has been at the helm of the Formula 1 safety car for a quarter of a century, and has thus been a part of Max Verstappen’s racing life for a decade. The Dutchman is one of the many greats that Mayländer has often seen in his mirrors as he once again led the field to safely guide drivers around a circuit.
As an FIA employee, he will, as is appropriate, remain neutral in his judgment of any driver. But respect? Appreciation? Mayländer has that for the reigning and now four-time world champion, regardless.
“I have contact with everyone at some point, but in relation to the safety car, Max is one of the drivers who occasionally asks why something happened the way it did, whether it can be different next time, and so on. He is open, I can talk to him well. I like that. The same goes for several other drivers. Don’t forget that I often already know many drivers from Formula 2 and 3,” says Mayländer.
Making it to Formula 1 as a racing driver was never in the cards for Mayländer. According to him, it was also ‘never really realistic’. So, was it just a dream? “Of course, I thought it was beautiful, but I always had a lot to do with the touring car classes.” So, it’s no wonder he ended up in the DTM, you might say. “I still remember how I got an offer from Mercedes in 1994 to drive DTM as a professional car driver. Fantastic.”
During that time, Mayländer came across Christijan Albers, among others. The German achieved some notable successes, not least of which was the victory during the 24 hours of the Nürburgring in 2000, only to make his Formula 1 debut later that same year. But then as the driver of the safety car, at the request of the late Charlie Whiting, the former race director of Formula 1.
