SAFETY FIRST

Only a few months in and already the 2025 Formula 1 season is proving to be a nail-biter, with the established driver order and team hierarchy under threat. So it's fortunate that two cars present at every race are standing ready to intervene when things get messy.

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They are the official FIA safety and medical cars, since 1996 provided by Mercedes, but also now by Aston Martin. Coincidentally, and in the wake of the Spanish GP and Max Verstappen's three penalty points for a late collision, the British manufacturer showed off both its safety and medical cars at its test and development centre beside Stowe Circuit, the short and sinewy track located inside the main track complex at Silverstone.

Finished in the manufacturer's trademark Racing Green with neon yellow accents on the side skirts and on the extended front splitter and rear wing, both unique to the car, and bristling with antennae and additional lighting, the Vantage has the presence necessary to bring 20 F1 drivers to heel. Its 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 produces 656bhp, and it does 0-62mph in 3.4sec. The cabin is fitted with a bespoke centre console incorporating multiple light and comms buttons, screens relaying live images of the track, a rear-view camera and a pair of six-point race harnesses.

It means business, as does Bernd Mayländer, since 2000 the official FIA safety car driver and my chauffeur at the wheel of the vehicle today.

"In this job you have to have been a race driver so that you can drive quickly but safely," he explains. With a racing record that includes winning Le Mans in 2000 and driving for Mercedes in the DTM championship from 2001-04, Mayländer easily ticks that box.