The current F1 safety car is a Mercedes-AMG GT R
British marque will share safety car responsibilities with Mercedes from next season
Aston Martin will provide the safety and medical cars at more than half of the Formula 1 races next season.
The agreement, which is yet to be formally announced but which has been confirmed by Racefans.net, will result in Aston Martin taking over the duties from part-shareholder Mercedes at 12 of the planned 23 races next season.
In a statement, the British firm said: “It’s Aston Martin’s policy not to comment on speculation. As a manufacturer, we’re extremely excited and focused on our imminent return to Formula 1 as a full works team, for the first time in more than 60 years, in 2021.”
It’s understood that the decision on which manufacturer will operate at which race will be dictated by how active Aston Martin is in the particular market. It’s expected to pick countries where it has a larger market share, although Mercedes may hold sway at some of the races where both have significant interests, such as in the US and China.
While it’s not clear which road car from Aston Martin’s portfolio will act as safety car, a race-derived Vantage is said to be currently favourite for the role. The medical car will be a DBX, which uses the same 4.0-litre V8 engine as the current AMG GT R cars that act as safety and medical cars.
Daimler, which owns Mercedes, recently took a 20% shareholding in Aston Martin.
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Source: Autocar
