<P> In motorsport, a safety car or pace car is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather . The aim of the safety car is to enable the clearance of any obstruction under safer conditions, especially for marshals and / or await more favourable track conditions weather-wise . </P> <P> During a caution period the safety car (which generally consists of an aptly modified high - performance production car) enters the track ahead of the leader . Depending on the regulations in effect, competitors are not normally allowed to pass the safety car or other competitors during a caution period, and the safety car leads the field at a pre-determined safe speed, which may vary by series and circuit . At the end of the caution period, the safety car leaves the track and the competitors resume normal racing . The first reliance on this safety measure occurred with the deployment of a pace car during the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911 . </P>

Why is there a safety car in f1
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