"First ever Safety Car in Formula 1 was on September 23, 1973, Canadian Grand Prix saw the use of safety car in Formula 1 for the first time. After few practice laps in the previous Grand Prix at Osterreichring in Austria, the safety car driver, Eppie Wietzes was ready in his Porsche 914 along with his co passenger and FOCA representative Peter Macintosh. The race ended up as the most controversial race in the history of Formula 1.

The introduction of the safety car was enforced by the number of crashes in the 1973 season. Clay Regazzoni had a horrific crash at Kayalami in South Africa while two months ago Roger Williamson succumbed to his injuries after his crash at Zandvoort in Netherlands. In both the incidents, the rescue measures were hampered by the speeding cars on the track. So, something was needed to slow down the cars...Read much much more: http://www.aaformula1.com/2012/02/first-ever-safety-car-in-formula-1.html