Formula One's safety car is now a more powerful Aston Martin Vantage S

Formula One returns after its summer break this weekend, and there will be a new car at the front of the pack for the Dutch Grand Prix. Obviously, a McLaren will probably still win the actual race, but we're talking about the Aston Martin Vantage S.

Yep, Aston has replaced the ‘regular’ safety car Vantage with its new Vantage S, which gets a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 producing 671bhp and 590lb ft of torque, and can see off the 0-62mph sprint in 3.4 seconds on to a top speed of 202mph. 

That’s up on the old, er, entry-level car’s 656bhp and a tenth of a second quicker to 62mph. Might not sound a lot, but in Formula One small margins matter.

If only because, you may recall that Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and George Russell all complained that the previous generation Vantage was too slow after the 2022 Australian Grand Prix. Which isn’t, ah, what’s the word… great for publicity.

Not that there have been too many complaints since the new Vantage’s arrival this season. Anyway, additional upgrades include bonnet blades to help extract hot air from the engine and a bigger rear spoiler for maximum downforce, plus that all-important lightbar.

“I’m delighted to be one of the very first to drive the Vantage S and look forward to experiencing the world’s greatest circuits in the most performance-focused Vantage to date,” said FIA safety car driver Bernd Mayländer.

We bet. Qualifying kicks off at 2pm (UK time) on Saturday, while the race is at 2pm on Sunday.