2025 Aston Martin Vantage track drive
Cutting criticism from F1 stars forced Aston Martin to up its game with the new Vantage supercar.
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Cutting criticism by the world’s fastest drivers helped transform the Aston Martin Vantage into a monster.
Like the origin story for a comic book villain, Aston Martin suffered public humiliation before re-emerging as a brutal, power-crazed baddie ready to tip the world upside down.
MORE: On the road in Aston Martin’s supercar
The brand acted quickly when F1 drivers lashed its $500,000 supercar for being a “really slow” safety car.
Safety isn’t the first word that comes to mind when bombing down a track at 250km/h in the new model.
Four-letter expletives might be more appropriate as Aston Martin’s Vantage thunders down the road then buries its nose into the tar, defying physics with carbon brakes, fat tyres and a truly aggressive attitude.
MORE:Huge power for Aston Martin’s Vantage
Like a scrawny kid who got picked on before returning to confront their bullies, the Vantage has a fresh athleticism fuelled by brutal criticism.
Sure, journalists and a few customers might have suggested early versions of the current-shape Vantage could use a little more muscle.
But the words that really stung came from Formula One stars who said it was too slow compared to the sport’s usual Mercedes safety car.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made headlines when he said the Aston Martin was “pretty terrible” and “so slow, it was like a turtle”.
“For sure the Mercedes safety car is faster … this Aston Martin is really slow. It definitely needs more grip, because our tires were stone cold,” he said.
Mercedes’ George Russell also sledged the Vantage safety car in 2022, saying “the Mercedes-AMG is like five seconds a lap quicker, which is pretty substantial”.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc joined the pile-on to say “I wanted to complain, but then I checked how much the safety car was sliding in the corner and I don’t think there was anything more that he could give.”
Ouch.
Embarrassed Aston Martin engineers went to work making the Vantage faster.
Big changes are under the bonnet, where a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 sourced from Mercedes-AMG saw power increase by an enormous 30 per cent.
That’s a staggering figure in a world of increasingly incremental gains.
Torque is up by 15 per cent, too, resulting in total outputs of 489kW and 800Nm.
Wider bodywork allows the fitment of significantly wider tyres that attempt to harness all that grunt.
It also looks significantly more muscular than before.
Built like an Olympic weightlifter, with the square dimensions of someone who packs outrageous power into a vertically compact frame, the two-seat Vantage looks exotic and dangerous parked in pit lane.
The emerald-coloured machine sounds appropriately ferocious with a prod of the starter button, growling like a Bulldog eyeing a postie’s unprotected ankles.
We’ve driven the Vantage on the road before, enjoying the car’s new-found muscle and a reworked cabin combining race-spec seats with a fresh touchscreen and upgraded hi-fi.
It shines brighter on track, where you can unleash the full potential of that mighty motor.
It shortens straights like no other Aston I’ve experienced.
It leaps to the limits of its Michelins then steps over them on corner exit, rewarding quick reactions and a dose of bravery from the driver.
A new traction control system lets you select exactly how much slip you can handle, encouraging slides that can entertain, thrill, or terrify as appropriate.
Anyone who understands numbers will know that a car with near enough to 500kW will be fast.
Fast enough to hit 100km/h in 3.5 seconds before topping out at 325km/h.
But the car’s poise comes as a surprise.
No, it’s not a surgical tool in the fashion of Porsche’s class-leading GT3.
But it has the grunt to leave the 911s in its wake on the straight, and enough precision from the chassis to encourage you to hustle it through the bends.
It delivers thrills in a slightly intimidating fraction that should have owners coming back for more.
And it should silence the likes of Max, George and Charles.
If last year’s Vantage was Bruce Banner, this year’s car is the Incredible Hulk.
You won’t like the Vantage when it’s angry.
You’ll love it.
ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE
PRICE: About $500,000 drive-away
ENGINE: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, 489kW and 800Nm
SPEED: 0-100 in 3.5 seconds, 325km/h
SAFETY: Ejector seats by special request. Possibly.
CARGO: Pack lightly.
SPARE: Nope
Originally published as 2025 Aston Martin Vantage track drive
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