New safety car confirmed for Saudi Arabian GP

Aston Martin will introduce its new Vantage as the official safety car for F1 at this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The British manufacturer has taken on the duties as joint-safety car provider with Mercedes-Benz across the past three seasons, with the newest Vantage ready to take on the mantle alongside the DBX707 medical car.

The new Vantage, revealed last month alongside the launch of the AMR24 F1 car and the road-going car's GT3 racing version, has been specially equipped to deal with the demands of controlling a 20-car field, with its debut coming at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit this weekend.

Global chief brand and commercial officer Marco Mattiacci said: “Vantage is the very essence of the Aston Martin brand, so to see the fastest, most driver-focused Vantage yet play such an important role in the prestigious FIA Formula One World Championship is a source of great pride for us.

"For brand awareness, there is no global, high-octane sporting series that can match F1. Building on the natural synergies between the sport and Aston Martin, racing fans will not only see the Aston Martin's AMR24s on track but also two of our most exciting performance models, Vantage and the award-winning DBX707."

'Incredible bloodline'

“It is a pleasure to drive the Aston Martin Vantage," added FIA safety car driver Bernd Maylander.

"The car comes from an incredible bloodline and this newest version is the fastest yet. My first impressions were very positive as I could immediately feel the improvement in handling and, of course, power.

"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.”

Aston Martin group chief technology officer Roberto Fedeli explained: “Every thought, every idea, every piece of technology and every stroke of the designer’s pen that went into Vantage can now be enjoyed by the fans of F1.

"This new car is already the fastest and most driver-focused Vantage yet, which makes it perfect for this unique job so to turn it into an Official FIA Safety Car of Formula 1 was primarily a task of adding all of the FIA equipment.

"Of course, it has additional aero not found on the road car to make sure it can attack the race track and showcase the capabilities of our newest ultra-luxury high-performance car.”