Aston Martin’s Vantage Safety Car And DBX Medical Car Add British Racing Green For The 2021 F1 Season

• Both are shod in British racing green, with FIA markings,  LED rear number plate and roof-mounted LED light-bar.

• The two models also get additional screens on the dashboard, and a marshalling system to display vital information mid-race.

• The Vantage has its power increased to 535PS and gets a variety of performance enhancements.

• Both will make their first appearance at the pre-season test in Bahrain on March 12-14.

In the FIA Formula One World Championship, Mercedes-Benz has usually been supplying the official safety car and medical car since the 1996 season. Well, that’s all set to change in 2021 as Aston Martin will shoulder these responsibilities with the Vantage safety car and DBX medical car. To meet the stringent safety demands of Formula One, the carmaker has also souped up the two models.

For starters, the two models sport the iconic British racing green body shade, the same as the Formula One racing team. There’s also a nice touch of lime green accents all over. Both get FIA-specific additions such as FIA markings,  LED rear number plate and roof-mounted LED light-bar.

Heading inside, the modifications continue, with two screens mounted on the dashboard to provide a live television feed and customizable information displays like live lap timing and track positioning of all active race cars. A ‘Marshalling System’ is integrated into the instrument cluster and the dashboard to see which colour flag is being shown on the track.

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The DBX medical car gets an additional screen to read live biometric data delivered via technology in the drivers’ gloves, which in the event of an accident, provides critical information on their condition. It also has had its central rear seat removed and the remaining four replaced with sport bucket seats with 6-point safety harnesses. As for the Vantage, there’s a switch control system in the centre console, used to execute actions like activating the siren, radio communications and controlling the light-bar LEDs.   

Under the hood, Aston Martin has souped up the Vantage to push 25PS more power, at 535PS, from its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine. The transmission has been tweaked to give a better sense of directness, precision, and control through upshifts and downshifts. A new front splitter helps generate 155.6kg of downforce at 200kmph, 60kg more than the production-spec Vantage. In addition, modifications to the suspension, steering and dampers means the Vantage should be well equipped for the challenges of a Formula One circuit. The DBX SUV remains as is, with a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine delivering 550PS and 700Nm. 

These custom Aston Martins will make their first appearance at the three-day pre-season test in Bahrain on  March 12-14, followed up by the season opener on March 28. So which is your ideal pair of safety/medical cars? The Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R and C 63 S Estate, or the Aston Martin Vantage and DBX. Comment down below.