Mikhail Gomes
Features Editor, Lifestyle Asia India & Contributor – Augustman
From the first Porsche 914 from 1973 to the current Aston Martin Vantage, here’s a short list of some of the most memorable F1 safety cars in history.
Formula 1 cars: 1000 plus HP engines, open wheels and roofless driver cockpits – safety is crucial. With millions of dollars tied up in a car to push the boundaries of road physics and engineering, everything is controlled by a steering wheel and the man behind it. In the history of all forms of motorsport, disasters on the track have been an ongoing threat and concern. And in these situations of damage, obstacles or injuries, a safety car intervenes to control the speed of the racing cars until the track is clear. Safety cars are not only available in F1, we have a BMW M2 or M5 for Moto GP, McLaren 570S for British GT and a BMW i8 for Formula E.
In light of today’s F1 fever, we’re scrolling the archives and highlighting some of the most memorable F1 safety cars.
The best safety cars in F1 history (1973-2021)
Porsche 914 (Canadian Grand Prix 1973)
Courtesy image: Porsche Racing
Historically, the first “safety car” appeared in the Indianapolis 500 in 1911 and it was a Stoddard-Dayton Model 11-A. In F1 books it was a Porsche 914, but interestingly, this was an unofficial first appearance. After some terrible weather conditions that caused some crashes, the 914 stormed in to speed things up. This was the first documented use of a safety car in F1 history.
Porsche 911 (1976 Monaco Grand Prix)
Image with kind permission: Porsche
A 911 as an F1 safety car, what a sight. We couldn’t get an official picture of what it looked like with the ‘Pace Car’ badge, but this should give you a pretty decent idea. In 1976 it made an appearance on the Circuit de Monaco. A short but remarkable run.
Lamborghini Countach (1981, 1982 and 1983 Monaco Grand Prix)
Image with kind permission: Formula 1
Could there be a more glamorous F1 safety car for a Monaco GP? Definitely not. The Lamborghini Countach was the car of the 70s and 80s and a statement of uncanny speed, style and a flagship of the wedge car silhouette. A 3.9-liter V12 rests under this beautiful red body, which could actually provide good competition for the Formula 1 cars.
Fiat Tempra (1993 Brazilian Grand Prix)
Image with kind permission: Formula 1
This might look like your average nine-to-five city car, but guess what? This was actually the first official F1 safety car. His debut at the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix. Interestingly, after Ayrton Senna won this race, the Brazilian superfans stormed the track and surrounded his McLaren. It was this Fiat Tempra 16V that came to the rescue.
Lamborghini Diablo (1995 Canadian Grand Prix)
Image courtesy: Lamborghini
The Lamborghini Diablo carried the wedge car torch into the ’90s, equally wild and stylish and perhaps one of our favorite F1 safety cars. This was the last Italian raging bull as a safety car, after which Mercedes began to rule. It used a 6.0 liter Lamborghini V12 that put out 485 horsepower.
Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG (1996)
Courtesy image: Mercedes-Benz
And finally the Mercs roll in. With this Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG, Mercedes became the official F1 safety car in 1996. It was actually the performance-oriented C-Class model that used a respectable 3.6-liter, six-cylinder in-line engine that developed 280 horsepower. It was replaced by the Mercedes-Benz CLK 55 AMG as early as the next year.
Mercedes-AMG GT (variants) – 2010-2020
Image courtesy: Mercedes-Benz AMG
I think it’s safe to say that the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT series was arguably one of the most productive F1 safety cars of all time. We have seen so many iterations of this model over the years, but if we scroll through the safety car design timeline, this may be the first time things have looked “modern”. It was powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that developed 510 hp.
Aston Martin Vantage (2021-current)
Image courtesy Aston Martin
After almost 40 years of using the safety car, we’ve finally got around to it. Currently (since 2021) the Aston Martin Vantage is the official F1 safety car. The Vantage manages to look threatening and at the same time subtle, and what’s more, the color of the British racing green adds to its appeal. In order to be able to keep up with the F1 cars, a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with 535 hp is possible.
Hero & featured image: Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz AMG Sports
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