Valtteri Bottas might drive for Alfa Romeo these days in Formula 1, but it’s clear he’s still a Mercedes man at heart – with the ‘Flying Finn’ excitedly sharing how he’s just picked up the most insane car Mercedes-AMG has ever made.
One of the many perks of being an F1 driver is that you tend to have pretty cool company cars (on top of the racecar your drive for a living, of course). If you’re lucky, and you race for a team like Ferrari, McLaren or Aston Martin, your company car is a high-end supercar… But if you race for a team like AlphaTauri, you’re stuck with just a Honda.
Of course, many F1 drivers also own cars from brands they don’t drive for – Mercedes man Lewis Hamilton owns two Ferrari LaFerraris, for example – but they’re often forced to keep them on the down-low like Michael Schumacher had to do about his ‘secret’ Porsche Carrera GT.
However, Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas (who previously raced at Mercedes alongside Hamilton for a solid 5 years) hasn’t been nearly as subtle about his latest ride, taking to Instagram to show off his new and highly-anticipated Mercedes-AMG ONE, which retails for over $4 million AUD.
WATCH Bottas showing off his Mercedes-AMG ONE below.
A limited-production hypercar manufactured that was first unveiled in 2017, the Mercedes-AMG ONE is as close as anyone has ever got to a road-legal F1 car. Production began in late 2022, with all 275 units pre-sold at a price of $2.72 million USD (~$4 million AUD) – Mercedes-AMG received more than four times that many orders but they’re committed to only making 275 to maintain its exclusivity.
Lewis Hamilton (who contributed to the Mercedes AMG-ONE’s R&D and tested the prototypes) owns two, as does Lewis’ former teammate and 2016 Formula One World Champion Nico Rosberg, as well as former F1 driver David Coulthard. Bottas was clearly keen to join the club.
The Mercedes-AMG ONE is powered by a modified Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid engine, the 1.6L turbocharged 90-degree V6 engine from the 2015 Constructor’s Championship-winning Mercedes-AMG F1 W06 F1 car, as well as four electric motors including an MGU-K and MGU-H. If you’re into your F1, you’ll understand why that’s so cool.
If you’re not, all you need to know is that the Mercedes-AMG ONE has a combined output of 782kW (over 1,048hp) and will do 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds. It also currently holds the production car lap records for the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit, Hockenheimring, Red Bull Ring and Monza.
The Mercedes-AMG ONE’s engine isn’t the only part of the car that comes from F1. It also features a proper DRS system, an F1-style steering wheel with manettino-style switches, is completely made from carbon fibre and an F1-inspired exhaust tailpipe. It also boasts features not allowed on current F1 cars (much like the Ferrari Enzo), such as active aero and ABS as well as obvious things like airbags.
The most bonkers part about the car, though? Mercedes claims that its engine will only last for 50,000km and that owners will have to return their cars for engine refurbishment once it hits that mark. However, seeing as most of its owners seem to be F1 drivers like Bottas, they’ll be used to that sort of thing – and will have more than enough cash to fund that sort of insane service schedule…