At the first corner there is a greater probability of a crash happening as all the drivers are looking for opportunities to overtake.

For this reason the course car and also medical chase cars, which you see immediately behind the grid, are positioned at the back of the grid for the race start.

Once all the cars have come to a halt on the grid, and the course car and medical cars are also in position further back, the start sequence is initiated by the race controller.

The safety car will actually be positioned further back on the grid or at another pre-defined location on the track or in the pit lane before moving after the first corner.

Safety car driver Bernd Maylander says: