Aston Martin will share official F1 safety car duties with Mercedes-AMG in 2021 – and has revealed the new Vantage that’s set to lead the pack during race restarts.
The Aston Martin DBX will also share official F1 medical car duties.
The two new cars will make their F1 debut at this week’s pre-season test in Bahrain.
Both finished in the same 2021 Aston Martin Racing Green as the team’s new F1 cars, they wear full FIA safety car livery, LED rear number plate and a huge roof-mounted LED light bar.
Two outer orange lights illuminate when the safety car joins the track; an amber flashing light illuminates when it is in position; two central green lights illuminate when it’s safe to pass.
Of course, for drivers and race fans alike, the exciting bit comes when the LED lights go off, indicating the safety car is coming in and the race is about to restart…
Bernd Maylander will drive the Vantage safety car and Alan van der Merwe will drive the DBX medical car.
Mercedes-AMG will continue to supply safety cars for the other half of 2021’s races. Both the Mercedes-AMG GT R safety car and Mercedes-AMG C 63 S estate medical car get new bright red paintwork for 2021.
More power
To give the Vantage a boost, power has been upped by 25hp to 535hp, meaning the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 can now do 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds.
Peak pulling power is also delivered for longer – and a new front splitter delivers over 155kg of downforce at 124mph, 60kg up on the standard car.
Extensive modifications to suspension, aerodynamics and cooling have been undertaken – but surprisingly, standard Pirelli road tyres are retained.
The DBX has the same 550hp output. In its 632-litre boot are a large medical bag, defibrillator, two fire extinguishers and a burn kit.
Four bucket seats are fitted inside, for the driver, Official F1 Dr Ian Roberts and a local doctor. One seat is kept spare in case a driver needs a lift back to the pit lane.
Aston Martin has carried out an extensive development programme for the new cars, including 15,000km of high-speed and circuit testing.
ALSO READ
‘Forget Ford v Ferrari: bring on Ferrari v Aston Martin in F1’