Bernd Mayländer:

25 Seasons As the F1 Safety Car Driver

Almost a quarter of a century later, Bernd - who was racing German Touring Cars (DTM) at the time - is still going strong.

"I never expected to be here 25 years later, but that means that you are enthusiastic in your job and you like what you are doing," he said.

"It started as 16 races per season. And now we have 24, so it is definitely my main job!

"People tell me I have done so many races or so many laps - but I am not into numbers. At this point I am happy if I can remember my age - it's 53!"

After being asked to drive the Safety Car in Formula 3000 - the main feeder series to F1 in the late 1990s - by former Race Director Charlie Whiting, Bernd took over the F1 role in 2000, and has not looked back.

"It was a job you could really throw yourself in to," he said.

"I knew the procedure of the Safety Car from F3000, the races were just shorter. I think every driver knew the rules and what it meant when the safety car was on track."

There are no points awarded for performance, and no trophy to take home when the chequered flag drops, but the Safety Car serves as an incredibly valuable piece of F1 furniture.

"You have a job to do. For me a good Safety Car deployment is handling a situation in the safest way possible," says Bernd.

"Obviously it is a competition, but all the drivers understand that element to the sport. If you do have a lead taken away, it will only be for safety reasons.

"I have never heard anything against the Safety Car in that respect because everyone understands."

So, what makes a good weekend for Bernd and the Safety Car?

"The best scenarios are if I do a couple of laps, manage everything the right way, get the right information to race control and to the marshals.

"For me, the best races are those without a Safety Car because that means nothing dangerous has happened on track."

With nearly 500 races under his belt, there are few in the paddock who understand how F1 has changed and developed since the turn of the century better than Bernd.

"Our aim hasn't changed, but the detail has," says Bernd, who has had to get used to a few more dials and buttons over the years.

"We have a procedure for almost every single situation, because we have more information available to us before we deploy than we did 20 or 25 years ago.

"Back in 2000 we had one radio, and the back-up radio was a hand radio. Now there are so many more systems in place for communication.

"We still had two cars back in 2000, but back then, the second car was just a normal road car, with none of the tech. The level of information we have now is so much better for safety.

"The Virtual Safety Car is another factor, we did not have that until 2015 so before then we would have had more deployments."

It's a job that can be done in one of the coolest offices in the entire world, but what has been Bernd's favourite F1 Safety Car to drive?

The impressive feats of Mercedes engineering through the years make that a tough question to answer.

"Every time a new car gets introduced, I think that must be it! But then the engineers keep developing for the next generation.

"The CLK 63 was an incredible car in the Black Series edition. The SLS was the first car fully developed by AMG.

"The GT Black Series we have now is a fantastic track car. Overall through the years there have been some outstanding cars."