Melbourne Grand Prix’s ambassador role scrapped
The F1 event has helped jump-start the careers of models including Brooke Hogan and Brit Selwood but organisers are this year ditching with tradition.
Victoria
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The Grand Prix ambassador role, which has launched many a career in the spotlight, has been scrapped.
This year the Australian Grand Prix Corporation has waved the chequered flag on the long established platform, which has revved up the careers of models including Pia Miller, Ash Hart, Elyse Knowles, Kate Peck, Brooke Hogan, Brit Selwood and Georgia Danos (nee Geminder).
A major part of the decision is due to the event’s popularity, particularly in the female market, which the ambassador is intended to appeal to.
“For many years we engaged ambassadors for our Formula 1 events to appeal to growth audiences, particularly females and younger demographics,” said Haydn Lane, AGPC General Manager – Corporate Affairs and Communications.
“The popularity of Formula 1 and the event locally has seen significant shifts in our attendance profiles in recent years. Between our last two Formula 1 Australian Grands Prix in 2019 and 2022, female event attendees grew from 24 to 38 per cent, whilst all attendees aged between 18 and 34 increased from 26 to 40 per cent.
“The popularity increase has also seen Sunday tickets to this year’s event already sold out and we’re on track for the highest-attended Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in history.”
In recent years the AGPC had expanded and used multiple ambassadors including last year Kris Smith, Josh Gibson, Jakara Anthony, Tara Rushton and Kate Reid.
In 2019 there were multiple ambassadors for the first time — Scotty and Rebecca James, Dylan Alcott and Kirsten Stanley.
Many event sponsors this year are still using ambassadors, plus DJ Paris Lawrence has been announced as the Glamour on the Grid party ambassador.
Another tradition that had been synonymous with the Grand Prix, grid girls, was ended in 2018, with Formula One saying “the custom does not resonate with our brand values.”
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