Formula One revamps, puts stop to grid girls
Change to custom of decades effective from start of season
London – Formula One is ending the use of models who parade on the starting grid and stand with the drivers’ name boards before every grand prix.
The decision was announced in a statement with the change, which also applies to all support races, coming into effect from the start of the season in Australia on March 25.
“While the practice of employing grid girls has been a staple of Formula One grands prix for decades, we feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values and clearly is at odds with modernday societal norms,” commercial manager Sean Bratches said yesterday.
“We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula One and its fans, old and new, across the world,” he said.
The move became a major talking point among fans on social media and was welcomed by Britain’s Women’s Sport Trust, who said in a tweet: “Thank you @F1 for deciding to stop using grid girls.
“Another sport making a clear choice about what they want to stand for.”
Cycling, professional boxing and the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) still have women parading between bouts or featuring as podium hostesses, but the Professional Darts Corporation recently scrapped such walk-on roles.
Britain’s Sun tabloid newspaper took a different view, however, with a front page headline yesterday blaming “killjoys” for turning the sport into “Formula Dumb”.
Formula One has not had a woman race driver on the starting grid since the 1970s, but is now far more mixed off the track, with female engineers, aerodynamicists and mechanics, as well as in media and marketing.
Two of the 10 teams have had female bosses, including former champions Williams, and Formula One management has a number of women in senior positions.
The use of female models, even if not as scantily clad as in the past, has been increasingly criticised as sexist and outdated in a sport that is now undergoing a revamp since Liberty Media took over last year.
Liberty, who ousted octogenarian former supremo Bernie Ecclestone a year ago, have been looking to make the pre-race show more of a feature with the emphasis on entertainment for fans and promotion.
“Formula One considers the time spent by teams and drivers on the grid before a race as one of celebration, where guests and various performers can add to the glamour and spectacle of the Grand Prix,” the statement said.
The statement added that the change would allow promoters and partners “to showcase their countries and products”. –