Aston Martin Puts 2021 Abu Dhabi F1 Safety Car Up For Sale, Do With This Information What You Will

Safety car periods in Formula 1 are going to look slightly different this season as Aston Martin ended its brief five-year tenure as the championship's safety car provider alongside Mercedes. Coincidentally, an Aston Martin dealer listed one of the Vantage safety cars for sale. This specific two-seater might be the most controversial vehicle to ever lead the F1 field, as it served during the title-deciding 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. I wouldn't blame Lewis Hamilton for buying this car simply to destroy it.

Aston Martin Leeds is listing the 2018 Vantage F1 Edition for sale at £599,990 (or $810,000). Despite producing over 500 horsepower from its twin-turbocharged V8 engine, F1 drivers often complained that the Vantage was too slow to be a safety car. Max Verstappen called the Aston Martin "a turtle" after the 2022 Australian Grand Prix. F1 cars aren't designed to waddle around a track at pedestrian speeds, so the safety car is typically going flat-out. For the 2025 season, Aston Martin will replace its original safety car with a newer model. The new Vantage features a more powerful engine, which produced over 650 hp.

The Autotrader listing notes that this Vantage appeared at 20 Grand Prix weekends between 2021 and 2023. As with any safety car, it performed the same duty for Formula 2 and Formula 3, the world championship's support series over those seasons. The listing added:

"This car was used for the controversial deployment that saw Max Verstappen win the Abu Dhabi GP, and ultimately the 2021 World Drivers' Championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the race.

We will leave you to your own conclusions of what should have happened at this race, but this is the Safety Car that created history in one of the most memorable season finales."

In fairness to the Vantage, it played no role in actually making the decision to restart the race with only a single lap to go. It was all Michael Masi. The Australian race official was unexpectedly thrust into the position of F1 race director after the unexpected death of Charlie Whiting on the eve of the 2019 season. Masi never gained the authority that Whiting had within the paddock after three seasons.

To create a more amenable working relationship, the teams encouraged Masi to open Pandora's box. During the later stages of the 2021 season, Masi started openly negotiating officiating decisions with the teams. The team principals were generally pleased with the "common sense" approach that seemed more straightforward than letting the race stewards do their job. However, Masi saw he moved an inch and took a mile. With that positive feedback, he started officiating the title fight between Verstappen and Hamilton with a gladiatorial "let them race" approach. When both title contenders entered the Abu Dhabi season finale tied at the top of the points standings, Masi declared he'd do everything in his power to end the race under green flag conditions. The team bosses agreed. We know what happened from there.