Art of Gears
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Aston Martin Named F1 Safety Car

By David Castro

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 04: A Aston Martin bonnet badge on display at the London Motor Show at Battersea Evolution on May 4, 2017 in London, England. 41 dealerships and manufacturers will showcase over 130 new vehicles at this years show which will run from 4th to 7th May. (Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 04: A Aston Martin bonnet badge on display at the London Motor Show at Battersea Evolution on May 4, 2017 in London, England. 41 dealerships and manufacturers will showcase over 130 new vehicles at this years show which will run from 4th to 7th May. (Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images) /
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Aston Martin announced that they will be providing the official safety and medical cars for Formula 1.  The Aston Martin Vantage will be highly modified to pace the F1 field during the formation lap and under yellow flag conditions. A 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine can propel the Vantage from 0-60 mph in 3.5-seconds.

The highly-modified Vantage features a new front splitter that creates 155.6kg of downforce at 200km/h (124 mph), more than 60kg than the stock Vantage at the same speed. It is finished in the same motif, British Racing Green and yellow, as its Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team sibling.

Veteran F1 safety car driver Bernd Maylander will continue his role behind the wheel. The Vantage will split safety car duties throughout the 2021 season with the Mercedes-AMG GT-R.

The Aston Martin DBX will share Official Medical Car of Formula One duties this season with the Mercedes-AMG C 63 S estate. Under the hood of the DBX is a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine (same as the Vantage and DB11) that can propel the SUV from 0-62 mph in 4.5-seconds and it has a top speed of 181 mph.

The medical car will be driven by Alan van der Merwe and riding shotgun is FIA Formula 1 Medical Response Coordinator, Dr. Ian Roberts. A local doctor will also ride in the DBX during F1 races.

More from Art of Gears

As we all witnessed last November during the Bahrain GP, a proper medical car and safety team can save a driver’s life. During the opening lap of the race Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean’s car struck a barrier at 119 mph with a force of 67G.

Following the pack of cars during the opening lap the medical car’s team jumped into action and helped save Grosjean’s life. Grosjean suffered burns and lived to race another day, he will continue his racing career in IndyCar this season.

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