F1 Safety Car nearly ran OUT OF FUEL admits Bernd Maylander

Dutch Grand Prix

F1 Safety Car nearly ran OUT OF FUEL admits driver

This could have been very embarrassing for those involved

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 28 August 2023 07:57

Legendary safety car driver Bernd Maylander has revealed that the safety car almost ran out of fuel during the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix.

The safety car is used in Formula 1 to slow all the cars down after an accident, or during dangerous conditions.

The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix was a particularly chaotic race, with terrible weather conditions and multiple crashes leading to seven drivers retiring – including Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel – and the safety car being called out on multiple occasions.

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Lewis Hamilton eventually came through to win the race, but Maylander admits that it was a nervous grand prix for the safety car crew.

”It was a new track and I had never been in Fuji before," he revealed on the F1 Nation podcast.

"It was horrible weather on Sunday. We were not even sure we could start the race and I get deployed we did a couple of laps get a feeling and already my co-driver Peter Tibbetts said ‘We are doing a lot of laps.'

"I said 'We have to keep an eye on the fuel’ and I saw it was less than half [left] and I said to deputy race director Herbie Blash on the radio, ‘How many laps do we have to go?’ and he said ‘Let’s see the weather is still bad.'

"I said, ‘Just for your info I think after five or six laps we are running out of fuel.

”Luckily, they told us the safety car is in next lap [and] we tried to start for a regular start. I informed the team we [need to] swap for a spare car, we ran down the pit-lane for our parking position.

“Then Lewis or Fernando crashed in turn five or six and that was the next safety car. I was on the track again so luckily I was on the track for five or six laps and everything was saved."

Unprecedented F1 situation

Bernd Maylander has driven the safety car in Formula 1 for 23 years

Maylander is a legend of F1. He has been the safety car driver since 2000, and has led over 700 laps in F1 races.

He previously raced in multiple other motorsports, including Formula Ford and the Porsche Carrera Cup.

In all of his experience in F1, he admitted that the 2007 Japanese GP stands out as a pretty unprecedented situation.

”I had never had this situation we were running out of fuel. Herbie was already thinking about sending the medical car on track to prepare some back-ups. But in the end everything went well.”