MOTORSPORT: F1 dumps grid girls
Formula 1 owner Liberty Media has decided to pull the pin on grid girls altogetherWomen wanting to join the Formula 1 grid will now have to earn their place with on-track speed or engineering cleverness.
Formula 1’s new owner, Liberty Media, is trying to move the sport into a new era, announcing today that its race grids will no longer use grid girls.
The long-standing motorsport tradition of using young models to add glamour is now seen as a throwback to a more chauvinistic era. While the pastime is less frequent in sport -- limited to select categories including MotoGP -- it is still commonplace at the motor show stands of brands including Maserati and Alfa Romeo.
“Over the last year, we have looked at a number of areas which we felt needed updating so as to be more in tune with our vision for this great sport,” Formula 1’s managing director of commercial operations, Sean Bratches, insisted yesterday.
“While the practice of employing grid girls has been a staple of Formula 1 Grands Prix for decades, we feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values and clearly is at odds with modern-day societal norms.
“We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world.”
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