Curious incident at Monza: Safety Car crashes at Parabolica during high speed track test. Monza: Bernd Maylander lost control of his Aston Martin Vantage.

On the Thursday of the 2024 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, the engines remain off. On-track activity is limited to the Hot Laps organized by Pirelli for VIP guests of the paddock and the practice laps of the Safety Car and Medical Car.

This afternoon, the green Aston Martin of Bernd Maylander was seen running wide at turn 11, namely the Parabolica curve, now nicknamed Michele Alboreto.

The 53-year-old German driver, who has been driving the F1 safety car since 2000, ran wide with the Vantage, which understeered past the asphalt escape route and then through the gravel bed, crashing into the outer barriers with the left side of the vehicle.

The impact was not severe, and Bernd Maylander, along with his passenger, emerged unscathed from the incident. The Medical Car, which was on track for its practice laps, immediately intervened, and after the red flag was displayed, it retrieved the two unlucky individuals to bring them back to the pit lane.

Bernd Maylander was on his fifth flying lap with the Vantage, and his best time in the previous lap was 2’04”878. It is not known whether the incident was due to a driving error or a mechanical failure. The FIA, of course, does not want to comment on the episode…