The new 656bhp Aston Martin Vantage safety car should be much quicker than the old one

F1 drivers really didn’t like the old Aston Martin Vantage. Not because they thought the pre-facelift grille made it look a bit too much like a catfish, but because as one of the official F1 safety cars it was a little too slow.

They should be happy to learn that this new Vantage safety car gets the same power hike as the refreshed road car, with the 4.0-litre twin-turbo AMG V8’s output jumping up by over 150bhp in one fell swoop.

“Such is the performance of the new road-going Vantage, it required no engine upgrade, no changes to its cooling system and no upgrade in braking performance to adapt it for its role as FIA Safety Car,” says Aston Martin in its press release. Yeah, 656bhp should do the trick.

There have been some modifications to the Vantage to allow it to get a shift on in front of race leader Max Verstappen. Most noticeably there’s that massive rear wing and front splitter, but there’s also redesigned underfloor aero and a more aerodynamic FIA-spec lightbar up top. Will we see these upgrades (minus the lightbar) on another Vantage F1 Edition? Only time will tell.

There are modifications inside too, including the addition of new seats and a bespoke centre console with all of the safety car spec controls and many screens that show live lap times, the positioning of each car on the circuit and a rear-view camera.

Oh, and we haven’t actually driven the new Vantage yet, but the FIA’s safety car driver Bernd Mayländer has. “It is a pleasure to drive the Aston Martin Vantage,” he said.

“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.”

The new safety car will make its debut at the Saudi Arabian GP this weekend, although if all the cars are as reliable as last week it might not get any airtime…