The worried plea of the 'safetyman' of F1

It's almost a norm in motorsport and Formula 1 related press conferences and media interactions now. Whenever a participant or official from a foreign country touches down, inevitably someone jokingly asks for their feedback on driving in India. In the case of F1, that question is specifically about Delhi roads and traffic.

And invariably much mirth ensues when that foreigner jokes right back about it and marvels about how things still keep going. "It's chaotic for sure, but somehow, it works," said Jenson Button on Wednesday at an event hosted by the United Kingdom's high commissioner to India. The former F1 champion regaled the, primarily Indian, crowd with tales of cars coming the wrong way, animals on the road and other hazards commonly faced by people here.

Predictably there was laughter and what seemed like a sense of pride amongst the Indians present that they can make it through the hurdles that leaves F1 champions 'quaking' in their boots.

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG F1 dished out similar stories on Thursday's press conference, once more, to the amusement of the national and international media in the press conference room.

There was one man in the paddock of the Buddh International F1 circuit, however, who was not amused either at the tales or the reaction to them.

Germany's Bernd Maylander has, for the last 14 years, been charged with maintaining order on F1 circuits around the world while piloting the safety car.

His attitude towards safety on an F1 circuit spills over to what he sees in countries around the world. In particular, new F1 venues like China and India where the car culture prevalent mostly in Europe and the Americas is catching on.

"It really should not be something for people to laugh about," said Maylander on Thursday while speaking to a group of reporters in the International Automobile Federation (FIA) building. "I mean you see someone coming at you from the wrong side of the road to get to an exit faster and you think this is OK but it's really a bad way to die if anything goes wrong.

"When I see F1 guys like Rosberg joke about such things and the media guys laugh as well, I wonder if it is funny to die because of something like this."

Just like he did at the 2012 edition of the Grand Prix, Maylander handed out cards to the journalists present with the '10 golden rules' of traffic safety. Albeit the 2013 cards were now the size of invitation cards rather than the business card sized ones of last year!

The magnified size mirrored Maylander's concern about things not getting any better in his view since his return.

"The rules are very basic and are not very complicated," said Maylander. "Things like wearing your seatbelt, checking your tyre pressures, driving on the right side. They can save your life."