Formula 1 has announced a new multi-year partnership with Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG that will see both manufacturers supply official Safety Cars and Medical Cars to the world championship from 2021.
Both manufacturers will alternate the supply of the vehicles at each race with this being the first time in 25 years that different vehicle manufacturers have supplied the official vehicles.
Aston Martin will run a specially equipped version of their Vantage - the most powerful model in the British brand's production range - for its safety car, while the Aston Martin DBX will fulfil the carmaker's medical car commitment.
Both the Aston Martin Vantage and Aston Martin DBX will be feature a '2021 Aston Martin Racing Green' livery, each with Lime Green accents, to celebrate the marques return to F1 after more than 60 years.
Mercedes-AMG, who have supplied the official Safety Car and Medical Car since 1996, will continue to run their Mercedes-AMG GT R and Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Estate vehicles as their safety car and medical car respectively, with both sporting a brand-new look for 2021.
New bright red paintwork will adorn both Mercedes vehicles from the beginning of the campaign, enhancing visibility while also representing Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team partner CrowdStrike. The American cybersecurity technology company becomes the Official Mercedes Safety Car Partner from this season.
Aston Martin will make their debuts in Sakhir at the Bahrain Grand Prix on 28 March, with Mercedes-AMG's rebranded safety vehicles running at the Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell' Emilia Romagna at Imola on 18 April. The remainder of the 2021 season will be split between the two manufacturers.
Germany's Bernd Maylander will remain behind the wheel of the FIA Safety Car at each Grand Prix, while South African Alan van der Merwe will continue his role in piloting the FIA Medical Car.
"We are very pleased to announce our new partnership with both Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG to provide the Official Safety and Medical Cars to the FIA Formula One World Championship," said Stefano Domenicali. "Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG are iconic automotive brands, and we are proud of their place in our incredible sport.
"The safety and medical cars are a hugely important part Formula 1 and are always there to keep our drivers safe. Last season we witnessed the heroic speed and dedication required by the crews in rescuing Romain Grosjean from his dramatic accident, and the both the Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG cars are perfectly equipped to respond at a moment's notice to ensure the safety of the drivers."
"We are delighted to welcome Aston Martin as a supplier of FIA Formula 1 Safety and Medical Cars," added Michael Masi, "sharing the role together with our longstanding partners at Mercedes-AMG who have been with us since 1996.
"The Safety and Medical Cars are an essential part of running a safe and successful FIA Formula One World Championship event - from track tests and inspections to race interventions and neutralisations, they are a vital tool for myself as Race Director and my team to utilise in order to keep everyone safe and get back to racing as efficiently as we can following an incident.
"These cars need to be fast in all conditions and carry a huge amount of cutting-edge technology onboard, and looking at the Vantage and DBX, Aston Martin has done an impressive job getting the cars ready for action. I think the fans are going to really love the new additions at selected events this year - Aston Martin is an iconic brand with a huge amount of racing heritage - and likewise also with the new-look Mercedes-AMG GT R, it will certainly keep Formula 1 looking fast even when we have to slow the racing cars down!"
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