Faster Aston Martin Vantage F1 safety car unleashed

Aston Martin has unveiled its new Vantage safety car and DBX medical car ahead of the 2021 season's kick-off.

Set to partner Mercedes-AMG for safety car duties this season, the modified Aston Martin Vantage and DBX will attend 12 of the planned 23 races beginning with the Bahrain GP on March 29.

The Aston Martin Vantage safety car is said to have received substantial powertrain, chassis and interior modifications over the standard road car to ensure it can lap quick enough for F1 cars without them overheating or losing tyre temperature.

It will be driven by Bernd Maylander, who has driven the F1 safety car for more than 20 years.

Under the bonnet, the big change is power is up, with the Vantage's twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 wound up from 375kW to 394kW, although torque peak remains unchanged at 685Nm.

To help cope with track work, the Vantage's eight-speed auto has been tweaked for "better precision and control" during upshifts and downshifts.

Externally, the Aston Martin Vantage safety car gets track-suited tyres and motorsport aero that produces 156kg of downforce at 200km/h – 60kg more than the standard car.

Underneath, the Vantage gets a unique suspension set-up and chassis reinforcement that's claimed to boost structural stiffness at the front-end to cope with endless hot lapping.

Helping it cope with extreme temperatures, the safety car gets the cooling system and extra bonnet vents used on the GT4 endurance racer, allowing the Vantage to cope with going from a flat-out lap to idling for hours without any cool-down lap.

Painted in the car-maker's green livery that's also used on its first F1 car in 61 years, the paint scheme's lime highlights are said to pay tribute to the brand's past endurance racers.

An aero-optimised LED light bar, LED rear number plate and radio antennas complete the external updates.

Inside, much of the interior has been ditched for a pair of FIA-approved bucket seats that get a six-point harness. Two screens on the dash, meanwhile, provide a live TV feed of the on-track action.

Other changes include relocating the rotary controller to make space for the new switch panel that controls the light bar, siren and on-board communications.

The Aston Martin DBX medical car, meanwhile, sports the same livery and some of the same FIA-mandated safety kit, but hasn't undergone any of the Vantage's extra mechanical revisions.

That means its twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 produces an identical 405kW and 700Nm as the standard model, so it takes the same 4.5 seconds to hit 100km/h and has a top speed of 291km/h.

As well as race-style bucket seats up front with the same six-point harness, the rear middle seat of the DBX has been removed and replaced with yet another race seat.

Like the Vantage, both the medical car driver and on-board doctor can monitor the race via live feed and have the same communications equipment as the safety car.

The Mercedes-AMG GT R safety car and C 63 S medical car carry over largely unchanged, aside from new bright red paintwork that's inspired by the AMG F1 team's new sponsor.