Why are Lapped cars allowed to overtake the safety car???

Q:

A: the idea is to have #2 behind #1, #3 behind #2 and so on and so forth. inthe middle of a race, sometimes there are backmarkers (lapped cars) in between. when the race restarts (it is a rolling restart), a backmarker who is not in a fight may ruin the chances of the guy behind him. to make the race fair, the back marker is allowed to overtake the safety car and go around the circuit and join the back (if he has the time). ofcourse it is usually a waved yellow and he cant drive at top speed but only with caution.. Below is an extract from formula 1.com - i have also attached the link The safety car will then allow cars to pass it until the race leader is immediately behind it. When signaled to do so, any lapped cars in among the leading pack may then unlap themselves, pass the safety car and proceed around the circuit to retake their positions at the back of the field. Once the correct race order has been restored, the pitlane will reopen.

Related items