Why is it so hard to get out of rookies?

I try to race cleanly but people keep crashing ahead of me and cover up the entire track. Either that or they don't hit the brakes and let the car roll making more people crash into them. One guy that crashed even waited for me to pass by and then throttled to hit my right front wheel to make me crash too even when I was actively avoiding him.

Update: Got out of rookies. I don't know what happened but I started finishing for podium pretty consistently. I do feel more comfortable with the weight transfer.