The Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition is focused on putting in the fastest laps

Speaker 1: As I'm sure you're all aware Aston Martin has re-entered formula one this year with this, the AMR 21. And as I speak, the team's best result has been a stunning second place by resurgent Sebastian vessel in Baku. But arguably Aston Martin had its biggest win of the year before the season had even started. You see, at the end of 2020, the contract to provide the safety car and the medical car was up. Now, Mercedes has provided that for well, pretty much since [00:00:30] time had begun, but as Martin snuck in there, and as a consequence at half the races for this year, you will spot advantage doing safety car duties and the DBX doing medical car, our duties. That's a pretty big coup because if you think about it, the only road cars that you actually ever see at an F1 race are the safety car and the medical car. And to celebrate all that Aston Martin has now built this. This is the Aston Martin vantage F1 edition. Relend in [00:01:00] a satin shade of the F1 car, our green paint with the broad Stripe running from vein grill to the new rear wing. And as you can see, there are a couple of small badges with the official F1 logo Speaker 1: In here. Well, it's basically the same as the AMR edition car with these sort of lime green [00:01:30] stitching and bits of leather, sort of like here and lots of Alara, which I love there is of course, an F1 badge inside as well, perhaps surprisingly, this is not actually a limited edition car, rather. It's the new 142,000 pound halo for the vantage range. Even more intriguingly to BS MERS Aston's new CEO set the development team. The challenge of making this car quicker on track with a target of seven minutes, 30 around an nor life, but without cheating. In other words, [00:02:00] they weren't allowed to simply bolt on a stickier set of tile, like some courses or cup twos. There aren't big increases under the bonnet either with the turbocharged 40 to V8 only gaining 25 brake horsepower, taking it up to 520 VHP in total maximum talk stays exactly the same at 505 pounds foot, but that peak is sustained for longer. Speaker 1: What we've got then are a lot of changes and again, it's quite detailed stuff, but the whole idea is to basically give it more [00:02:30] lateral stiffness and more support, particularly at the rear to this end, there are stiffer bump stops at the front with more rebound in the dampers, as well as half a degree, more negative can. And a sheer panel that has doubled in thickness at the rear. The spring rate has gone up by 10% and the compression DAMing has been increased while there is also a small lateral damper to help keep the transmission in check. The new arrow helps provide 200 kilos more down force than the Stanley car. And although the tires rubber compound is largely unchanged, there are now larger 21 inch forged [00:03:00] wheels all round Speaker 1: The gear shifts while we've still got the Z F eight speed auto in here, but the talk interruptions have actually been shortened. So, whereas before they sort of, they might have given a few more pops and crackles, they might have been a bit more dynamic in some respects. Now they're just smoother, quicker on the track. Well, to be honest, I found that you want to go sort of straight through from sport through sport. [00:03:30] Plus just ignore that and go for track because although yes, it, it's sort of pretty busy straight away. And this is quite in a bumpy circuit, this little stove circuit, it's quite tight, it's quite technical. It's quite testing really for any car, particularly a car that can sometimes make me feel a bit heavy, but this car just gets better and better. The harder you drive it [00:04:00] Through this corner here. So you're breaking under breaks. You really feel it nice and precise. And then through this long corner, you just balance it on the throttle. Of course, if you do want to be a complete Horigan, then Speaker 1: You can. Now I think it's worth pausing to say that I did drive this car briefly on the road too, out in the leafy lanes. The dampers are resolute enough [00:04:30] that they need to be kept in the softest of their three settings. But although bumps and lumps are more keenly felt engines. You couldn't describe it as smooth. It isn't a crashy or jarring ride. Some of the compliance is also the been taken outta the steering system to give a slightly more connected feel, which is pleasing. And the thro response is lively too. Definitely doesn't do relaxed in the same way as the standard car. Anyway, back to the trap, I always have those images of the safety car and the medical car, just in that lovely [00:05:00] state of sort of four wheel drift, I suppose, just constantly not, oversteering not big smoking slides, but just that little sort of just moving across the circuit. Speaker 1: And you really can do that in this. If you take it to a track day, obviously you can't go out and do big smoking skids everywhere, but there's just a precision in this that the kids are get, it is on not a sort of a really extreme tire. It's not a track tire it's on still a road compound. Despite the fact we've always [00:05:30] got bigger wheels, but you can just place it more accurately and drive it on the throttle, but not overly there. You know what to, I love it through this ship came here, actually just balance it again. Use the throttle, really use the throttle in this car, cuz yes, you can get it rotated like say you don't wanna overload the front end. You just want to drive it on the throttle. It almost quite an old school fashion, I suppose. [00:06:00] How close is it to the actual safety car? Speaker 1: Well, that's got some more arrow is it? Doesn't have to worry about pedestrian impact regs. And it's also got an upgraded cooling package, but otherwise it's Aly very similar cars burn Bylander they got lot of fun trying to keep an F1 pack behind me. The only thing perhaps I'd like is, well, some different seats in here because I think with a car that's this good on track. And actually you would once take [00:06:30] it on track. I'd like some more aggressive bucket seats or at least the option of them for those that do want to use it on track. So through the long time left time to hair Speaker 1: Just sometimes when you're sitting into the slide, you, you don't have the position of a mechanical limits to sit diff really impressed with the brake. So, and say the precision under break the way you can place the car. That really nice. What [00:07:00] then to conclude about the advantage F1 edition. Well, the changes certainly make it more enjoyable and accomplished on the track and more engaging if a little less refined on the road. Things like the gearbox and seats not forgetting the tires of course mean that it certainly isn't a fullblown Mo of the GT three rival and Aston. Certainly isn't pitching it as one. What is it then a CS, a GTS maybe. Well, after a bit of pondering, I realized that it reminded me very much of the recipe for the end, for no green cars that appeared in [00:07:30] the old vantage range. And that's no bad thing at all.