Aston Martin to field official F1 safety and medical cars anew

MANILA: Aston Martin will continue to provide official safety and medical cars to the FIA Formula One World Championship for the upcoming 2022 season. Aston Martin is putting the finishing touches on the Vantage Safety Car and DBX Medical Car as Formula One gears up for the commencement of a new era with bold, new technical regulations.

The Aston Martin vehicles will be present at 12 F1 races this year, beginning with long-awaited comeback of Formula 1 to Albert Park in Australia. Both the Vantage and the DBX will be painted in the new 2022 Aston Martin Racing Green that was unveiled in February 10, along with the launch of the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team’s challenger, the AMR22.

The Vantage F1 Edition is the fastest, most track-focused Vantage ever, and the ultimate expression of performance and agility, inspired by the Aston Martin Vantage Safety Car of 2021.

The Official F1 Safety Car Vantage is one of a kind, created exclusively for this role by the engineering team at Aston Martin’s headquarters in Gaydon, UK in partnership with the FIA, the ruling body of world motorsport. It will be driven by FIA’s appointed driver, the seasoned Bernd Maylander.

Using the experience gained from Vantages competing in GT events across the world, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Vantage Safety Car has been developed for ultimate speed and handling to perform its crucial job in F1. Aston Martin designed an additional FIA safety car livery, bespoke, roof-mounted LED light-bar, bodyside mounted radio antennas, and an LED rear number plate.

The driver and passenger of the Vantage have access to the FIA’s Marshalling System, which shows lights corresponding to any warning flags displayed, just like inside the F1 cars themselves. The car is well covered by cameras and inside and out to provide live TV coverage.

Meanwhile, the DBX Medical Car has a power output of 550ps and 700Nm of torque, allowing it to accelerate from zero to 62mph in just 4.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 181mph.

The DBX’s deployment on the world’s premier race circuit gives invaluable data to Aston Martin’s vehicle dynamics experts. The new DBX707, the world’s fastest luxury SUV, has benefited from data obtained during F1 race weekends.

Likewise, the DBX Official Medical car has been specially modified to compete alongside some of the world’s fastest cars on a race track. The medical car must transport a huge amount of equipment, including fire extinguishers, a defibrillator, and a large medical kit bag, and the DBX has more than enough boot space to accommodate this. The DBX, like the Vantage, has FIA-approved racing seats with a six-point safety harness, a marshalling system, and even TV screens so the doctor can monitor exactly what is going on in the race as he sits in the in the pit lane, ready to go.

In a statement, Aston Martin Lagonda CEO Tobias Moers said, “It is a continuing source of pride for myself and the whole company to see our cars playing a crucial role in Formula 1. Vantage and DBX will feature at 12 Grand Prix this year and, as much as I hope they won’t be called upon too often in the races, I think we all know they will be busy again as F1 enters this new era. We’re excited to be part of the show!”

The 2022 Formula One season will begin on March 18 to 20 in Bahrain. The Aston Martin Official Safety and Medical cars of Formula 1 will be used at the Formula 1 Heineken Australian Grand Prix on April 8 to 10.

Photos from Aston Martin

Also read: Aston Martin DBX707 production to generate 100-plus jobs in the UK