Aston Martin and Mercedes join forces as F1 unveils new safety and medical cars

Aston Martin and Mercedes may now be rivals on the track following the former's return to Formula 1 but they will also play a joint leading role in the seasons to come.

For the first time in 25 years, two manufacturers will share the supply of safety and medical car duties at the grands prix across a season.

Aston Martin's Vantage will serve as the safety car, with the DBX as the medical car, and with a British Racing Green livery.

Mercedes-AMG, which has supplied the safety and medical cars since 1996, will continue to run their GT R and C 63 S Estate, but the silver of the past has made way for red.

The Aston Martins will make their debut at this weekend's pre-season test, as well as at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on March 26-28, while Mercedes will then return for the second race in Imola on April 16-18.

Bernd Mayländer will continue to drive the safety car, with Alan van der Merwe behind the wheel of the medical car.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said: “The safety and medical cars are a hugely important part of 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 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.”

FIA race director and safety delegate Michael Masi added: "The safety and medical cars are an essential part of running a safe and successful Formula1 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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