F1 icon honoured ahead of landmark grand prix entry

F1 safety car driver Bernd Maylander will hit a remarkable milestone this weekend, reaching 500 grands prix with the sport at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The German has held the role since 2000, when he made his debut at the very same Albert Park circuit. 

Over 26 years, Maylander has missed just a handful of races, including the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix after fracturing his heel in a fall while attending a DTM event.

Driving various cars across the last two and a half decades, Maylander has become as much a fixture of grand prix racing as the drivers themselves.

He is called upon to control the pace and get the cars in order if there is an incident on the track which requires race control to send recovery vehicles onto the asphalt.

His 500th entry makes him more experienced than any grand prix driver in history, with Fernando Alonso's 426 (after Australia) setting the record for F1 drivers.

Before his F1 safety car duties, Maylander won the 1997 FIA GT championship, finished second in class at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, and conquered the Nurburgring 24 Hours in 2000.

To celebrate Maylander's safety car achievements, he was presented with a Bell helmet, a poster and a cake by the FIA on the eve of the race weekend.