Aston Martin has revealed its all new safety and medical car ahead of the start of the 2021 F1 season, with it now sharing duties with Mercedes at race events.
The introduction comes as no surprise given Mercedes and Aston Martin’s relationship has developed strongly over the past year or so. Within that time frame, Mercedes has increased its stake in Aston Martin to 20% while also allowing Aston Martin to raid its powertrain and electric/electronic architecture departments amongst other technologies.
The new safety car is an Aston Martin Vantage, which features a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine from Mercedes-AMG. Here it’s been given a spruce up with an extra 24hp, bumping its power to 528hp. A new vane grille and front splitter generate as much as 155kg of downforce at 124mph, which equates to some 60kg more than the regular Vantage makes at the same speed.
Instead of the single infotainment screen, there are now two digital displays, one with a live television feed of the race, the other with vehicle statistics, lap timing of the F1 cars and where their positions are on the track.
A variety of other tech is on board, this includes controls for the LED lightbar, siren and radio communications, as well as the FIA Marshalling System, telling the driver which sections of the track are flagged.
The medical car comes in the form of the Aston Martin DBX. Using a version of the same twin-turbo V8 engine, it produces 525hp and will hit 181mph. On board is a whole host of medical equipment, fire extinguishers and a defibrillator.
Live vital medical information from the drivers gloves is also fed to the medical car in the event of a collision to help diagnose the condition of the driver.
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, said: “We are very pleased to announce our new partnership with both Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG to provide the Official Safety and Medical Cars to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.”
Tobias Moers, CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda, said: “Together with the whole company, I am extremely proud of the Aston Martin brand’s return to Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsport, for the first time in more than 60 years and represents the start of a significant new era for Aston Martin.
