Mercedes Reclaims Full-Time F1 Safety and Medical Car Duties for 2026
Aston Martin’s exit from the shared programme returns exclusive FIA duties to Mercedes for race weekends plus Bahrain testing.
Overview
- Mercedes confirmed it will supply the official FIA safety and medical cars at every 2026 grand prix weekend as well as at Bahrain pre-season testing.
- The arrangement ends the alternating setup used since 2021 after Aston Martin chose not to extend its contract beyond 2025.
- Bahrain testing is scheduled for February 11–13 and February 18–20, with the season opening in Melbourne on March 6–8.
- Mercedes will continue with the AMG GT Black Series as the safety car and the AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ as the medical car, models used since 2022.
- The 2026 season marks 30 years of Mercedes in F1’s official car roles, with safety car driver Bernd Mayländer approaching his 500th grand prix.