Max Verstappen Blasts Aston Martin F1 Safety Car, Prefers the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series

That’s all well and good, one would think, unless that Aston Martin Vantage isn’t actually up to the task.

During this past weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, the Vantage safety car was called into action twice during the 58-lap event, following incidents involving Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel.

With most drivers on the hard tire, they ended up struggling to get heat into their compound while cruising behind the Vantage, which according to Max Verstappen and George Russell, is considerably slower than its Mercedes-AMG counterpart, reports Motorsport.

If you’re wondering what this is even an issue, let’s start by breaking down some numbers. Powering the Aston Martin is a 4.0-liter twin turbocharged V8 engine, good for 528 hp. This car also comes with a subtle aero kit and a large rear wing, but it’s nothing truly hardcore – plus, it could have really used less ground clearance.

Meanwhile, the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series introduced by the carmaker as its official F1 safety car for this year, boasts 730 hp to go with some really serious aerodynamic elements: large front skirt, additional flaps, bigger front splitter, rear skirt, two-blade rear wing, and so on. It also sits a lot closer to the road than the Vantage, which means it can corner harder than the Aston and is believed to be about five seconds per lap faster.

“There’s so little grip and also the safety car was driving so slow, it was like a turtle. Unbelievable,” said Verstappen, who found himself behind the Vantage safety car twice at Melbourne.

“To drive 140 [kph / 87 mph] on the back straight, there was not a damaged car, so I don’t understand why we have to drive so slowly. For sure the Mercedes safety car is faster because of the extra aero, because this Aston Martin is really slow. It definitely needs more grip,” added the reigning world champion.

Mercedes’ George Russell, who finished third, playfully mirrored Verstappen’s feelings, adding: “We don’t have the issue with the Mercedes-AMG safety car! On a serious note, the Mercedes-AMG is like five seconds, a lot quicker than the Aston Martin safety car, which is pretty substantial.”