What's all this about?

Aston Martin has unveiled a new Vantage coupe safety car for the 2024 F1 season, with the car set to debut at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend. The new model replaces the old Vantage safety car, which was based on the outgoing Vantage and was reportedly described as a “turtle” by F1 champ Max Verstappen due to its lack of performance.

Hang on, isn’t it a bit late for the 2024 season? That kicked off last week…

Ah, yes. About that. The Aston is actually one of two F1 safety cars, sharing duties with a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT that was seen at last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The two brands have been sharing responsibilities since 2021, and the new Vantage will take over this weekend in Saudi Arabia, where it will work alongside an Aston Martin DBX707 medical car.

I see. So is this new safety car a turtle as well?

Well it’s still painted green – the same green, in fact, that adorns the F1 team’s cars and inspired the brand’s best-selling paint job – but Aston Martin’s literature makes predictably little reference to Verstappen’s indictment of the old Vantage. Instead, the British company has said the car will get a 30 per cent uplift in power compared with the old Vantage, as is the case with the road car.

Is it just a standard new-shape Vantage then?

Not at all. While it started life as a Vantage, the safety car gets modified underfloor aerodynamics and a new front splitter, as well as a new rear wing. A lightbar had to be fitted for safety car work, but Aston reprofiled that as “every millisecond is vital when leading the pack of F1 cars with rapidly cooling tyres.” Could that be a promise that the new safety car will be faster?

Naturally, internal changes have been made, too, with special seats designed to keep driver Bernd Maylander and his passenger in place on track, while a bespoke centre console provides switchgear to work with the FIA’s systems, including screens for live lap times, car positions and a rear-view camera. However, to keep the Aston theme alive, the cabin is trimmed with Lime Essence materials in a nod to the brand’s racing colours.

So what has Aston said about it?

“Every thought, every idea, every piece of technology and every stroke of the designer’s pen that went into Vantage can now be enjoyed by the fans of F1,” said Roberto Fedeli, the group chief technology officer at Aston Martin. “This new car is already the fastest and most driver-focused Vantage yet, which makes it perfect for this unique job so to turn it into an Official Safety Car of Formula 1 was primarily a task of adding all of the FIA equipment. Of course, it has additional aero not found on the road car to make sure it can attack the race track and showcase the capabilities of our newest ultra-luxury high-performance car.”