People

Maro Engel

Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador who set the AMG ONE Nordschleife records

Born
Munich, 1985
Nationality
German

The record

German racing driver and Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador who set the production-car Nordschleife records in the AMG ONE in 2022 and 2024, won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2016 and 2026, and shared the 2024 GT World Challenge Europe drivers' title.

Born in Munich on 27 August 1985, Engel grew up in Monte Carlo and attended school with Nico Rosberg. He raced karts from 1996 to 2000, finished third in the 2001 Formula BMW Junior Cup, and after a second Formula BMW year and a 2003 Formula 3 Euro Series spell was runner-up in British Formula 3 in 2007 with three wins for Carlin.

He finished seventh in the 2005 Italian Formula 3000 championship. Mercedes-Benz brought him into the DTM in 2008; he drove year-old C-Class cars for Mücke Motorsport through 2011. In 2012 Mercedes-AMG made him a brand ambassador, Driving Academy instructor and SLS AMG GT3 customer-team support driver. He left that role by mutual agreement for the 2013 Australian V8 Supercars Championship with Erebus Motorsport.

He won the 2015 FIA GT World Cup at Macau in an SLS AMG GT3. In May 2016 he won the Nürburgring 24 Hours with Adam Christodoulou, Manuel Metzger and Bernd Schneider, taking the Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 past the HTP sister car on the last lap. He raced Formula E with Venturi in 2016–17 and 2017–18, finishing fifth at Monaco, and won a 2017 DTM race at Moscow.

On 28 October 2022, Engel recorded 6:35.183 around the 20.832-kilometre Nordschleife in the AMG ONE on a last attempt as the circuit closed. On 23 September 2024, on his third timed lap, he improved it to 6:29.090, the first road-legal production vehicle below 6:30. Both runs used a series-production car documented by TÜV Rheinland and a notary.

In 2024 he became GT World Challenge Europe drivers' champion with Lucas Auer in a Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3. In February 2026 he won the Bathurst 12 Hour with Maxime Martin and Mikael Grenier from 29th. That May he took a second Nürburgring 24 Hours win, from 25th with Martin, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz. As of August 2026 he is listed as a Mercedes-AMG GT driver and brand ambassador.

Hybrid energy management

On both Nordschleife record laps he used the AMG ONE's four-stage Energy Flow Control and lift-and-coast, lifting early to keep electrical energy available over more than 20 kilometres of the lap.

Race Plus and DRS

He selected the Race Plus programme, which lowers the car 37 millimetres at the front and deploys maximum active aerodynamics, and used the steering-wheel DRS to cut drag on the Nordschleife's fastest sections.

Last-lap Nordschleife pass

In the 2016 Nürburgring 24 Hours he put the Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 inside Christian Hohenadel's HTP car at Turn 8 on the Grand Prix loop, winning by 5.697 seconds.

The stations

  1. 2007Carlin MotorsportBritish Formula 3 driver
  2. 2008–2011Mercedes-BenzDTM factory driver
  3. 2008–2011Mücke MotorsportDTM driver
  4. 2012–2013Mercedes-AMGBrand ambassador and Driving Academy instructor
  5. 2013Erebus MotorsportV8 Supercars driver
  6. 2014–Mercedes-AMGGT driver
  7. 2016–2019Black FalconGT3 driver
  8. 2016–2018VenturiFormula E driver
  9. 2017Mercedes-AMG Team HWADTM driver
  10. 2017–Mercedes-AMGBrand ambassador
  11. 2024–Winward RacingGT World Challenge Europe driver

The house

Mercedes-Benz

Credited through Mercedes-AMG.

In the register

One file carries this name

The files above are the register's own record of this name. The people index holds everyone the register credits.

In their words

“Two years ago, the conditions were not ideal, and some sections of the track were still a little damp. We knew we could do more, and we wanted to show that. Today we were able to demonstrate the maximum potential of the AMG ONE. Many thanks to the whole team from Affalterbach for the trust they've placed in me. It was a great pleasure and honor to be able to drive this record lap with such a unique car.”

Maro Engel · MotorTrend, 3 October 2024