Our thanks to Nick for this on the BBC. The caption under the picture (above):
60% of respondents to a BBC Sport vote in December said ‘grid girls’ should be part of Formula 1
The start of the piece:
‘Grid girls’ will no longer be used by Formula 1 from the start of the 2018 World Championship season, organisers have announced.
Sean Bratches, managing director of commercial operations, said the change would be made “so as to be more in tune with our vision for this great sport”.
F1 managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn told BBC Radio 5 live in December that the use of female promotional models was “under review”.
The new F1 season begins on 25 March.
“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,” Bratches added. [J4MB: What a wanker.]
“We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world.”
Stuart Pringle, managing director of British circuit Silverstone, said: “We wholeheartedly support the decision by F1 to drop the use of grid girls – it is an outdated practice that no longer has a place in sport.” [J4MB: Another wanker, lots of them about.]
