At the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, the Vantage and DBX will be first seen.

Since 1996, Mercedes-Benz supplies the FIA Formula One World Championship safety cars. This year, however, Mercedes-AMG will continue to be part of the new safety cars and medical cars.

Aston Martin will supply the safety and medical cars in the 2021 season, breaking with decades-old tradition. The Aston Martin Vantage will be the Formula 1 safety vehicle, while the DBX, which is the first SUV by the carmaker, will serve as the medical vehicle. Both are powered by the identical twin-turbocharged 4.0 liter Mercedes-AMG V8 engine.

The DBX and Vantage will both be wearing Racing Green, as seen in the above images. Both cars will feature Lime Green accents. However, certain modifications have been made to make them more suitable for their purpose, such as the roof-mounted LED light bar and FIA markings.

Bernd Maylander (FIA’s designated driver) and Richard Darker (a former race driver), will pilot the safety car. The medical car will continue to be driven by Alan van der Merwe.

The Vantage safety car has an additional 24 horsepower, which gives it a total output 528 horsepower (394 Kilowatts) as well as 505 pound-feet (685 Newton meters) of torque. The Aston Martin DBX medic car is powered by 542 hp (405 kW), and 516 lb/ft (700Nm) of twists.
Two AMG-powered Aston Martin cars will make their F1 debut at the three day pre-season test in Bahrain, March 12-14 2021. The two AMG-powered Aston Martin vehicles will then be joining the opening round at the FIA Formula One World Championship on the same track, two weeks later.

Notable: The Mercedes-AMG GT R has been the official F1 safety vehicle since 2018, after the AMG GT S’s tenure from 2015 to 2017. The official safety and medical cars for Formula One are now supplied by the British luxury brand.