As long as the safety car is on the track, it cannot be overtaken. The cars may drive into the pit lane during a safety-car phase and return to the track again at any time – provided that the traffic light at the pit exit is green. A car that returns to the track must drive at reduced speed until it reaches the end of the queue behind the safety car. When the Race Director orders the safety car to leave the track, it continues driving for another full lap with its signal lights switched off. When the safety car leaves the track, the green lights at the start-finish line are lit and the marshals show the green flag. However, the drivers can only overtake after the cars have passed the start-finish line. The laps driven during a safety-car phase count as normal race laps.

The safety car was invented in the USA long before Formula 1. A pace car, as the safety vehicle is called in the States, slowed down the field for the first time at the Indianapolis 500 race in 1911. However, it was not because there was danger ahead, but simply so that the spectators could fill up their soft drink cups and popcorn

buckets without missing too much of the race. While the pace car in the USA is still sometimes used even today to maintain the excitement of the race or to allow regular commercial breaks for the television companies during the broadcasts, the sporting competition and safety are more important than the show in Formula 1.

However, the safety car often causes more excitement in Formula 1, too, because the stretched field is packed closely together again and there are more overtaking manoeuvres after the race is given the all-clear. But it sometimes becomes really hectic on the track during the safety-car phase itself, because several cars use the interruption for a pit stop. If a team manages to come into the pits at the right time, it can be a crucial advantage, because the cars are moving slowly and so this stop involves a far smaller loss of time. As a rule, the safety-car phase is a disadvantage for the race leader, because he loses the lead that he has painstakingly built up. But the benefit in terms of active safety for everyone involved compensates for this disadvantage.

Since the 2000 season, Formula 1 has entrusted the task of driving the safety car to 30-year-old Bernd Mayländer. This task carries a lot of responsibility and is not always an easy task. To make sure that the tyres of the Formula 1 cars following in his wake do not cool down and that the highly-tuned engines do not heat up too much, Mayländer in his 476bhp car, has to really put his foot down. He is given 60 training minutes on the Thursday before each race to become familiar with the relevant track, and he makes the most of the time, because during the race he and his co-driver, Peter Tibbets, are just on standby.

Even so, they cannot just put their feet up. Just like racing drivers, they sit buckled into the car in their helmets and overalls and wait for their orders to come through by radio. If they never come, Mayländer is certainly not angry. On the contrary:

“The best times are when I have nothing to do. I am happy when I’m not needed,” said the experienced touring car driver, who at least has one advantage compared to his colleagues in the Formula 1 cars: “Our car has air conditioning.”