When Mercedes-Benz and AMG first announced the AMG ONE back in 2017, the world could almost not believe its eyes. What the German manufacturer was offering was a hypercar with Formula 1 technology right at the heart of its performance. The AMG ONE took the 2016 Mercedes F1 engine and repurposed it and revised it for road-legal use, although it turned out that was a harder task than Mercedes realized. It took Mercedes five years to finally get the AMG ONE ready for production, the company announcing in August 2022 that it was finally in production.

Since then, the AMG ONE has gone on to wow pretty much everyone who has laid eyes on it. It's one of the most powerful and fastest performance cars in the world, and stands alongside the Aston Martin Valkyrie as an F1-influenced monster. One of the greatest features about the AMG ONE is the aerodynamics of it, with it almost as wild as that of the F1 car that it used as its inspiration. There is plenty of aero on the AMG ONE to keep the geekiest of car enthusiasts very happy.

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Three Driving Modes Enhance The Performance Of The AMG ONE

The aerodynamic nature of the AMG ONE is obvious from its exterior design. Without getting into the details just yet, we can see the large active rear wing, the winglets over the front wheel arches and the ducts and vents around the wheels. It's one mighty looking thing. It is in the aerodynamic department where the AMG ONE really shines. It has three hydraulically controlled aerodynamic setups, depending on the selected drive program and the driver's preference. Highway mode sees the car in its most normal state, with the louvers closed, the rear wing and flap retracted and front diffuser flaps extended.

In track mode, the car sinks roughly 37 mm and 30 mm at the front and back, respectively. Then the louvers open and the rear wing and flap extend fully for maximum downforce. Race DRS mode sees the rear wing flap lower and the louvers close, and this is so the AMG ONE can achieve maximum speed. Those are the basics of the car's aerodynamic features. When we start to dive deep into the AMG ONE, we get a sense of just how aerodynamic the car is.

The Level Of Aero On The AMG ONE Is Insane

Mercedes-AMG ONE Front Aero Details
via Mercedes-AMG

Pretty much everything aero related on the AMG ONE is active aero. This is perhaps more futuristic than the powertrain technology that is naturally marketed as its core feature. We of course have the moveable flaps in the front diffuser or the louvers, then there are the front wheel arch vents that look more like the gills of a fish. Finally, at the back, there is the active rear wing and flap. There is actually more active aero on this road-going car than there is on the current Mercedes W13 F1 car! It is that impressive a machine.

The whole ethos here is to ensure that the AMG ONE is as fast as it can be through the corners, as well as down the straight. As mentioned in the section about drive modes, many of the aero features retract as the car powers down the straights, so it can get as fast as possible in a straight line before they all pop back up and to allow the car to reach its maximum potential in the corners. Of course, active aero like this is not currently allowed in F1, but it is still so impressive to see it applied to such an extent on a car that is in fact road legal.

One Of The Most Powerful Cars On The Planet

Mercedes-AMG ONE Front Rear Quarter View Paul Ricard Track
via Mercedes-AMG

Of course, all of this level of aero would be useless without a powerful engine at the heart of the car. And what is at the heart of the AMG ONE is a 1.6-liter V6 engine, similar to the F1 engine from 2016. That produces 566 hp. Now, that might not sound a lot, but then you add in the four electric motors. Two at the front, and two at the rear. This combines to give the AMG ONE 1,048 hp in total, and while there are more powerful cars out there, it is still an impressive figure.

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A Saga That Finally Came To An End

Mercedes-AMG ONE Front Quarter View Yas Marina
Mercedes-AMG

The AMG ONE project became a bit of a long-running saga as Mercedes found out how hard it was to get an F1 engine ready for the road. They have though achieved it, and along with the Aston Martin Valkyrie, produced one of the most aerodynamic performance cars we have seen in the history of automobiles. Active aero is not an easy technology to perfect, but the AMG ONE is full of it, while also delivering on its promise to give us an F1 engine that is fully road legal.

Source: Mercedes-AMG