Aston Martin's Vantage F1 Edition Is The Safety Car Without The Lights

For the first time in 26 years, F1 is getting a non-Mercedes safety car. Aston Martin is to share safety and medical car duties with the German company, and that’s led to the creation of a special Vantage.

The Vantage F1 safety car has been modified with input from Aston Martin boss Tobias Moers himself, and some of those tweaks are now available to customers. But not the big light bar - sorry.

The Vantage F1 Edition does, however, get the same aero package, consisting of a new rear wing, a chunky front splitter with dive planes and under-body vanes. These work together to increase the downforce by 200kg at the Vantage’s top speed of 195mph (190mph in the Roadster).

Making the most of the reduced lift is a tweaked 4.0-litre Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo V8, boosted by 25bhp to give a new total of 528bhp. It powers the rear wheels via a fettled eight-speed automatic gearbox that provides reduced shift times.

Headlining the chassis changes is a set of 21-inch wheels shod in specially-developed Pirelli P Zero tyres. There are also underbody changes that increase the stiffness of the Vantage’s front structure, new damper internals and an increased rear spring rates.

You can have it in the same Aston Martin Racing Green hue used for both the safety car and the company’s new F1 car, with Jet Black and Lunar White also on the colour palette. Inside you’ll find Obsidian Black Leather and Phantom Grey Alcantara liberally spread around the cabin.

Want one? It’s on sale now with a starting price of £142,000 here in the UK, weighing in at €162,000 in Germany.