Formula 1 abolishes “grid girls”! Start after the new 10 in three hours!

The leading men of Formula One have announced the end of two long-standing traditions. Until now, a representative of the fairer (and more beautiful) sex stood next to each car, whose task was mainly to hold a board with his start number at the starting point of the racer.

Liberty Media is abolishing hostesses in a series of changes that it has been introducing since taking over this season, which we will no longer see even in Formula 2 and GP3.

The commercial boss of Formula One, Sean Bratches, explained the decision, which angered many spectators, that the girls on the starting line no longer fit the "new image" of Formula One.

“Over the past year, we have explored several areas where we feel changes are needed to make this great sport in line with our vision,” he wrote in a press release. “Although grid girls have been present in Formula One for decades, we believe that this custom does not reflect our values, and at the same time is contrary to modern social norms. We believe that this custom is neither appropriate nor important for Formula One and its viewers. ”

In addition to the majority of viewers, girls from the “grid girls” category do not agree with the decision, as it is supposed to interfere with their right to make independent decisions. "It's stupid of women who claim to be fighting for women's rights to dictate what other women can and can't do, making it impossible for us to do work that we enjoyed and that we did with pride," he said. twitter was commented on twitter by Rebecca Cooper, who stood on the starting line five times as a grid girl.

“Where will this end if we don’t take action? The abolition of grid girls, the abolition of cheerleaders, female singers will determine what they are allowed to wear on stage, the end of photo models in magazines? I will fight for my right to choose what I will wear and where I will work, ”she added, using the hashtag #fightformyrighttochoose.

Her colleague Lauren-Jade Pope agrees: “We lost our jobs because of feminists! I worked as a grid girl for eight years and not once did I feel uncomfortable! I love my job. If I didn’t have it, I wouldn’t be performing it! No one is forcing us! This is our decision! ” she added!

There have already been speculations online that a wave of "political pre-correctness" will spread to motorcycle waters. Hannah Louise, a hostess in the Superbike class, wrote: “I work as a hostess, I love my job, which I chose for myself! The problem is that too many people are offended instead of people who are not offended! If the abolition is followed by Superbike, it would destroy me. ”

However, women who left work some time ago welcome the termination: “I think this is a good move. This is a sign that we are going in a positive direction. I also enjoyed it, made good money and had fun, but when I look back, I was just an ornament and that's the problem, ”wrote Melina Messenger, who worked for the Jordan team.

This is also not the only major change before this season, as the European races will start 10 minutes after 14 pm, and no longer exactly at XNUMX pm, with the exception of the British Grand Prix. The ten-minute delay is expected to increase the viewership of the races, as "some television stations start broadcasting exactly at the hour, so viewers miss the tension and emotion just before the start of each race," explains the decision at Liberty Media.

The French Grand Prix, which returns to the racing calendar this year, will even start at 16:10, due to the World Cup match between England and Panama. “The schedule has undergone a few other changes to avoid overlapping with other major sporting events, such as the World Cup in football,” they added.

To make it easier to keep track of changing race weekend schedules, you can check the race calendar on our website, and at the start of the season, we will also publish the race weekend schedule a week before each race.

 

Race schedule for the 2018 season

* FP1 is scheduled for Thursday and not Friday