Automotive records don’t typically stand long as car companies continually push the boundaries of performance to one-up each other.

But one record is truly standing the test of time.

It has now been four years since the Mercedes-AMG One became the quickest production car to lap Germany’s fabled Nürburgring Nordschleife race track.

On Oct. 28, 2022, driver Maro Engel, piloting a Mercedes-AMG One hypercar, became the king of the ‘Ring when he set a production car lap record at the Green Hell with a time of 6:35:183 minutes.

That lap time has only been surpassed by a production car once since then – and that was by Engel driving the same car two years later to improve on a record that has yet to be broken otherwise.

In October of 2024, Engel and the AMG One turned in a lap time of 6:29:090 minutes.

But the original record from four years ago would still stand if it hadn’t been improved upon by Engel.

The next closest production car lap time at the track was achieved earlier this year when Ford Racing and Multimatic factory driver Dirk Müller completed a lap time of 6:40.835 minutes in a Ford Mustang GTD Competition. Strictly speaking, the Mustang GTD Competition was technically listed as a prototype/pre-production model, but Ford said it would offer it in “strictly limited” numbers to customers and it would be street legal.

The GTD Competition’s lap time, considering the car is powered by an internal combustion engine with no electric support and the engine sits at the front of the car, is an incredible engineering and driving achievement, but it’s still a long way off the AMG One’s four-year-old record and even further from the two-year-old one.

Does AMG One have competition?

It’s important to point out that just because no one has surpassed the AMG One’s ‘Ring record yet doesn’t mean someone couldn’t.

Not all automakers put as much stock on setting Nürburgring lap records as others, particularly car brands based outside Germany, as it is expensive and a logistical challenge to book the track, get your car there, get the team ready, have third-party verification of the lap record while hoping for good weather for your one shot at the record. Part of the reason why Engel produced a better time two years later was because the weather and track conditions were better on the return run.

However, several hypercars have emerged in recent years that could potentially challenge the Mercedes-AMG One at the track.

These include the Ferrari F80, McLaren W1 and Koenigsegg Sadair’s Spear, which are among few that may have a chance at the record. Will these brands put their own hypercars to the challenge record remains to be seen.

AMG One and GTD have a connection

The record-holding Mercedes-AMG One and the runner-up Ford Mustang GTD have a connection.

Both cars were created with the help of Canadian-based Multimatic, with the GTD being mostly assembled in the United States but then finished at Multimatic’s facility in Markham, Ont., while the AMG One was mostly assembled in Germany with assistance from the Multimatic team in the United Kingdom.

About the Mercedes-AMG One

The Mercedes-AMG One features a hybrid powertrain that comes directly from Formula 1. The car packs 1,063 PS (1,048 hp) and has a top speed capped at 352 km/h. The AMG Performance 4MATIC+ all-wheel-drive system features a hybrid-driven rear axle and electronically driven front axle with torque vectoring.

The AMG One was limited to just 275 cars, all of which sold out several years ago.

You can watch a video of the record run below or on YouTube.

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