It won’t just be Max Verstappen in the Red Bull that leads the field in the 2024 Grand Prix season. Aston Martin is guaranteed to be ahead of the pack as its newest Vantage takes over safety car duties.
The Vantage will lead a formation lap for the first time at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while the DBX 707 medical car follows from the back of the grid.
It may be the most powerful Vantage ever made, but even its 655 bhp V-8 won’t be enough to set the pace for a pursuing pack of F1 cars so the safety car has had a number of modifications to make it even faster. The underfloor aerodynamics are modified, there is an extended and profiled front splitter, and a new rear wing has been installed complete with a specially-tuned Gurney. The FIA lightbar has also received new aero-profiling to reduce drag.
Inside there are Pole Position Seats to secure safety car pilot Bernd Mayländer and his passenger, and there is a unique center console with switchgear to work the FIA systems, plus screens showing live lap times, the track positioning of all of the cars and a rear-view camera.
“My first impressions were very positive as I could immediately feel the improvement in handling and, of course, power,” says Mayländer. “We need a car that is fast and focused so we can respond quickly and safely when we receive the call for on-track deployment and Vantage provides that. I have enjoyed driving Vantage during the past three seasons and I’m happy to now be one of the first to drive the new Vantage and experience its full performance pedigree on the world’s greatest circuits.”
Expect a limited-run road-going replica to follow in due course.
