Monza, the most unexpected off-track: the safety car ends up against the barriers

Unscheduled on Thursday in Monza. On the day dedicated to the press, the activity on the track is only that of the safety car which tries fast laps to verify that everything is in order on the car and on the track for the race weekend. The safety car, an Aston Martin driven since 2000 by the legendary Bern Maylander, 53 years old, German, on lap 5 ran wide at turn 11, the Parabolica renamed Michele Alboreto, first overtook the asphalt run-off area and then the gravel, ending up with its left side against the barriers. As during a regular session, a red flag came out to signal the interruption of the race. on the outside with the left side of the car.

A spectacular and unexpected accident, from which Maylander and his passenger were unharmed, getting out of the car without help and then recovered by the medical car and accompanied to the pits. No explanation has been found for the cause of the accident, even though the car was winding under braking before spinning on itself and hitting the barriers. A mechanical problem is assumed rather than driver error. The FIA ​​has released a statement explaining that “Aston Martin is investigating the cause of the accident but can confirm that both the driver and passengers are OK. There is another Safety Car on the circuit and this will have no impact on the weekend”.

Aston Martin has introduced an updated version of its Vantage this year after some had previously complained that the previous model wasn’t quick enough. Along with revised bodywork, power has been increased from 150bhp to 656bhp thanks to larger turbochargers, increased cooling and new camshafts for its AMG-supplied 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. Incidents involving the safety car and medical car are rare but not unheard of in F1. One of the most famous was at the 2000 Monaco GP, when driver Alex Ribeiro crashed the Mercedes medical car during a Saturday morning test, hitting the barriers at Tabac. Ribeiro was also involved in a lucky escape at the 2002 Brazilian GP when, after parking the medical car next to a stationary Enrique Bernoldi, he was almost hit by Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld, who hit the Brazilian’s open door just before he got out.