Formula One axes ‘grid girls’ starting at the Australian Grand Prix in March
GRID girls have responded with fury after it was revealed F1 bosses have axed one of the sport’s longest standing traditions.
FORMULA ONE have sensationally axed grid girls — just days after darts announced they were ditching walk-on models.
The Sun reports the most glamorous sport in the world has decided to end decades of using models to provide added colour to their races.
When the new season begins in Australia in March grid girls will be absent as the sport’s American owners Liberty Media looks to keep up with the growing clamour not to objectify women.
It comes at the end of week which has seen British model Kelly Brook hit out at the decision of darts to stop using walk-on girls.
Brook blasted darts bosses for caving in to “snowflakes” as she defended the right for women to work as models and walk-on girls.
The Professional Darts Corporation last week decided to end the long-established practice of women escorting male players to the stage.
Formula One bosses claim they have been looking at ways of bringing the sport into line with others in terms of equality, and Ross Brawn, F1 managing director of motorsports, said in December that using gird girls was “under strong review”.
Sean Bratches, managing director of commercial operations at Formula One, claimed the move was more in keeping with the sport’s long term planning.
Mr Bratches said: “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.
“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 modern day societal norms.
“We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula One and its fans, old and new, across the world.”
The sight of grid girls has been a long tradition in F1 although they were dropped for “grid boys” at the 2015 Monaco GP — yet that proved a one-off.
‘DISGUSTED’: GRID GIRLS REACT WITH FURY
Grid girl Rebecca Cooper was furious with the decision, suggesting it’s sexist to takes away a woman’s right to choose what she does with her life.
So the inevitable has happened, F1 gridgirls have been banned. Ridiculous that women who say they are "fighting for women's rights" are saying what others should and shouldn't do, stopping us from doing a job we love and are proud to do. PC gone mad 😡 #Gridgirls
— Rebecca Cooper (@rebeccageldard) January 31, 2018
If we don't do something to stop this where will it end? No grid girls, no cheerleaders, female singers being told what to wear on stage, no models in magazines?! I'll fight for my right to choose what I wear, where I work and to keep a job I love. I'll #fightformyrighttochoose
— Rebecca Cooper (@rebeccageldard) January 31, 2018
So I presume all the women who fought to ban grid girls and walk on girls are equally disgusted by the half naked men on @8Outof10Cats Countdown, or on yoghurt adverts, or butlers in the buff? Surely if their offended by us wearing conservatives dresses in public? #gridgirls
— Rebecca Cooper (@rebeccageldard) January 31, 2018
"Scantily clad furniture", "sexualising women", "provocative", "Id never let my daughter wear a grid girl outfit"... just some of today's comments, yet people clearly haven't dont their research as these are my outfits from my 5 years in F1 #gridgirl #gridgirls pic.twitter.com/etbcCPnCC1
— Rebecca Cooper (@rebeccageldard) January 31, 2018
Fellow grid girl Charlotte Gash was on Cooper’s side, saying she has loved her time in F1.
“Upsetting, rather disgusted that F1 has given in to the minority to be politically correct,” she told the BBC.
“I’m one of the lucky ones that don’t rely on this as my main source of income but there are a lot of girls out there that do.
“We loved it and it’s a source of income for those women and we don’t want it taken away from us.”
She also said the belief grid girls don’t belong in the sport represents a more outdated mindset than the notion it’s demeaning for the gig to exist in the first place.
“F1 should have thought about having a grid girl and a grid boy, to see if that was a viable option. There are plenty of girls now who are out of jobs in every country,” Gash said, per Talk Sport.
“Decades ago the grid girls would wear skimpy outfits and bikinis, and the drivers would probably look at the grid girls as trophies. That attitude has completely gone. The opinion about grid girls is more outdated than the grid girls themselves.”
“The experience I received at Silverstone (in 2017) was out of this world. It was something you could only dream of doing. Being on the podium with (Lewis) Hamilton, watching him go across the crowds and celebrate his win. It is something that I am never going to experience again.”
Get me on @thismorning so I can defend us #gridgirls
— Lauren-Jade (@laurenjadepope) January 31, 2018
Because of these feminists, they’ve have cost us our jobs! I have been a grid girl for 8 years and I have Never felt uncomfortable! I love my job, if I didn’t I wouldn’t do it! Noone forces us to do this! This is our choice! pic.twitter.com/PUWcyB5BeG
Speaking late last year, Chantel George said she enjoyed some amazing times as a grid girl and was adamant it would be a “huge mistake” to get rid of them.
“The experience is absolutely amazing. You get treated like royalty by the team that you’re with and meeting the racing drivers is an amazing experience,” Chantel told the BBC.
“All of the grid girls were there to represent our country, our teams and the fans always look forward to meeting us.
“I never felt sexualised at all, nobody was inappropriate and I didn’t feel like I was being exploited. I loved it. It was an experience that I will never forget.”
Ex-F1 test driver Jordan King, F2 driver Jack Aitken and current F1 star Romain Grosjean were among those to share their views on the development.
I don't care, I'm married with the most beautiful girl on earth! https://t.co/VgpNfQaHUY
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) January 31, 2018
@F1 without grid girls, do we actually care if they have them or not? It doesn’t make a difference to how fast the cars go ........
— Jordan King (@42jordanking) January 31, 2018
Should clarify, I’m mostly referring to the recognition that grid girls do not resonate with the values of F1 here 🙃
— Jack Aitken - 한세용 (@JaitkenRacer) January 31, 2018
In a since-deleted tweet, former F1 driver Enrique Bernoldi said: “What’s happened with F1 now?! So boring as it is and banning grid girls will only make it worse.”
This F1 is getting so boring, that’s really the F1 that I dreamed as a kid and neither the one I raced 👎 https://t.co/1y5SECMM1x
— Enrique Bernoldi (@ebernoldi) January 31, 2018
Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who is married to former Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell, said grid girls added glamour to F1.
In November, he said: “We’ve had grid boys and that’s been criticised. In Austria we’ve had children going on to the drivers’ trailer and that has been criticised.
“You are never going to get it right and we live in a modern society and we have to be open to everything.
“Women play a key role and, borrowing a phrase from my wife, girl power is very strong in F1.
“In our team we have a lot of women in senior positions and they are doing a tremendous job.
“Look at Claire Williams — new mum and combining that with running the Williams team.”
Liberty’s decision to drop grid girls comes after the World Endurance Championship also ditched the practice in 2015.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and is republished here with permission.
Originally published as Formula One axes ‘grid girls’ starting at the Australian Grand Prix in March
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