Why do drivers Pit when a safety car is deployed?

so ive been watching f1 and NASCAR for a while now but i don't understand why they pit when theres a safety car. if a car was in 1st place a they pit when theres a safety car, wouldn't that mean that they go to the back of the pack?





thanks :)|||I know when the "safety car" comes out in F-! there is generally a train wreck in terms of the way their crews react, and I am just guessing its a penalty if a car comes in when the car pulls out and picks up the field.


In the US when the Pace Car pulls out to pick up the field after a caution the pits are closed until NASCAR or whatever sanctioning body opens the pits. At that p[oint all cars can pit and retain their position after concluding the pit stop--putting a premium on a fast pit crew using high performance versions of traditional jacks amd air guns to change 5 lugs per wheel.


I Hope that helped the reason I distinguished between pace and safety cars is that in this country manufacturers put great stock in providing the official pace car for certain races.|||Most drivers pit when theres a caution which is what the safety car is out there to show. So after they come off pit road, depending on how well there pit crew does they assume close to the same position they had before the caution came out.





The only reason they would go to the back of the pack is if they pitted and every other car on the lead lap stayed out.|||In a perfect world, everybody spends the exact same time on pit road so (usually) everybody pits and everybody comes out in the same position. Unfortunately that is not the case as faster pit crews get cars out in front of cars with slower pit crews. But to answer your question, during a caution, everybody pits.|||they don't have to pit...it is just a good idea to get some more gas in the tank and maybe change your tires so you can finish the race.|||cause the field is moving slower under caution and they cannot race each other, they will lose lets spots and sometimes pick up spots if several pit and they have a faster stop. hope that helps