Friday, March 7th 2008, 10:10 GMT

The new safety car for 2008Mercedes Benz has unveiled the new safety and medical cars that will be used during the 2008 Formula One season.

The safety car is based on the SL 63 AMG while the medical machine is derived from the C 63 AMG Estate.

Both have been developed by AMG and the Performance Studio.

The safety car, which will be driven again by Bernd Maylander, was presented at the Geneva Motor Show.

The car is powered by a an AMG 6.3-litre V8 engine and has an output of 525HP. It can accelerate from zero to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds.

The car is 220 kg lighter than the series-production vehicle.

It is the eighth generation of safety car from AMG, who has been the official supplier to F1 since the 1996 season.