F1 Safety Car Drivers

"It looks boring on the TV when the safety car comes out" Maylander tells BBC Sport. "It looks really, really slow, I know."

The thing is, it isn't.

Maylander's safety car is a Mercedes CLK 63 AMG, capable of reaching 62mph in 4.5 seconds (about twice the time it takes an F1 car), with modified brakes, tyres and aerodynamic parts; Maylander fondly describes it as "a small race car".

"The top speed I can reach, on Silverstone's long straight for example, is 155mph - but it looks like 60mph compared to the F1 cars," the German said.

It sounds pretty fun (and hair-raising), but they have so sit in the car, harnessed in, helmet on, for the whole race. And they need to be damn good drivers too - as Bernd Maylander (one of the two drivers) said, they would look pretty stupid if they went off!