'How is a good-looking girl offensive to anyone?': Billionaire ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone blasts 'prudish' move to ditch grid girls from the sport saying 'fans love the glamour'
Ex-Formula One boss Bernie Eccelstone has blasted his former companys decision to axe walk-on grid girls.
Billionaire Ecclestone, 87, was the godfather of F1 for 50 years and built it up from almost nothing to one of the most glamorous sports in the world.
But now, F1, once synonymous with its jet-setting playboy drivers, has decided grid girls no longer resonate with our brand values.
And Ecclestone, who was ousted from the helm of the sport last year, has slammed the move to do away with the grid girls.
Ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, pictured here joking with the grid girls at the 2015 Hungary Grand Prix, has slammed the sports move to do away with the girls.
Billionaire Ecclestone, 87, built the sport up from virtually nothing to one of the most glamorous in the world. He said the girls were part of the show.
Formula One have announced they will no longer use walk-on grid girls at grands prix . He told the Sun: These girls were part of the show. Fans love the glamour. The country at the moment is getting a bit prudish.
You should be allowed to have grid girls because the drivers like them, the audience like them and no one cares. These girls were part of the show, part of the spectacle.
I cant see how a good-looking girl standing with a driver and a number in front of a Formula One car can be offensive to anybody.
F1 bosses said they will no longer use grid girls from this current season which starts in Australia in two months time because it is not in keeping with their brand values.
The move mirrors the Professional Darts Corporations decision last week to end the long-established practice of women escorting male players to the stage.
And it comes in the wake of the growing row over sexual harassment following accusations levelled at disgraced Hollywood film mogul Harvey Weinstein. Sebastian Vettel, then driving for Red Bull, poses with grid girls at the 2014 US Grand Prix .
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton poses with grid girls in Sochi in October 2015. Hamilton celebrates 2015 Chinese GP win by spraying hostess in the face with champagne.
The changes will also apply to other races which take place on grand prix weekends and will come into play from the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 25.
Sean Bratches, F1 managing director of commercial operations, 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 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 dont believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world.
London-based charity the Womens Sport Trust had previously put pressure on F1 to drop its walk-on girls along with boxing and cycling, after the decision in darts.
It tweeted last week: We applaud the Professional Darts Corporation moving with the times and deciding to no longer use walk-on-girls. Motor racing, boxing and cycling. Darts walk-on girls will no longer be used by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
F1 has used grid girls for some years - pictured is a scantily-clad woman at 2000 Australian GP. Four grid girls pose for a picture in the pit lane at the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix.
Hungarian Grand Prix grid girls, donning identical outfits, pose for photographers in 1999. The announcement, however, was met with backlash, with fans voicing their dismay on social media.
Many were infuriated by F1s claim that the decision was made due to the brand values and took their frustrations to Twitter.
The Halo doesnt resonate with the fans values, remove that as well, wrote one user - referring to the safety cockpit device which has become mandatory ahead of the new season.
The sport was also criticised for taking the glamour away, with some claiming grid girls are an important part of a race weekend.
Marco Conradie wrote: Its as if F1 is doing everything possible these days to remove the glamour and excitement from the sport. And also, shouldnt the grid girls themselves have any say about the matter? Not very empowering stuff, this.
Grid girl poses in front of a F1 car at the 2001 Hungarian GP as photographers take snaps. Grid girls smile before the drivers parade at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 2005.
Beverley Turner, a British television and radio presenter, backed Formula Ones decision . Karun Chandhok, a former Formula One driver, would look to see more female drivers in F1.
Model Kelly Brook, 38, who used to work as an F1 flag girl, told ITVs Loose Women: Its a well-paid job. Its one of the best jobs I ever had.
You dress glamorously and obviously its about being presentable but I never felt I was taken advantage of.
WHICH OTHER SPORTS COULD BE HIT NEXT? UFC (Octagon girls) Boxing (Ring girls) Tour de France (Podium girls) NFL and NBA (Cheerleaders) Football (Team cheerleaders) Moto GP (Grid girls) .
Jade Slusarczyk, a Sky Sports walk-on girl who often poses with snooker players, was accused by a feminist listener of BBC Radio 2s Jeremy Vine show that she needed education to understand why the job is offensive.
But Ms Slusarczyk, from Blackpool, Lancashire, replied to the yoga instructor called Tilly: I got As in school and would have become a doctor, but mum was in a car crash so I had to look after her.
This Morning host Philip Schofield has also defended the women, saying: These are intelligent women. Isnt it their right to work in whatever job they choose?. But Doctor Who actress Ingrid Oliver tweeted: First darts girls, now F1 girls.
Male decision makers from uber-male sports disciplines renouncing objectification of women, whether cynical PR move or no, feels huge. I think that unfamiliar sensation Im currently experiencing is hope and, let me tell you, it feels real weird. .
Formula One drivers walk on the Turkish Grand Prix red carpet and are welcomed by grid girls. Grid girls arrive for the pit lane walk ahead of last seasons Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
And the Womens Sport Trust tweeted: Thank you, F1 for deciding to stop using grid girls. Another sport making a clear choice about what they want to stand for.. How F1 has followed the darts in banning walk-on girls.
and boxing could be next Formula 1 said today that it will end the long-standing practice of using women on the grid and on the podium with the top three drivers.
It comes after the Professional Darts Corporation also said last week that it has also scrapped walk-on girls before matches.
Other motorsports have previously stopped the usage of grid girls. The World Endurance Championship - which hosts the famous 24 Hours Le Mans race - stopped doing it prior to the start of the 2015 season.
But other sports still employ glamorous women under the guise of entertaining the crowd before and during events.
Boxing and UFC both have ring girls, who let the crowd know which round is coming up by holding up numbered cards, generally while wearing revealing outfits.
But Talking about grid girls on BBC Radio Five Live last month, Australian Red Bull Formula 1 Daniel Ricciardo said: Its kind of like part of the attraction of the sport – fast cars and fast girls.
It is a male dominated sport and Im not saying theres no room for females. But there is more men in the paddock than women. I just think that grid girls has always been a nice little cool thing for everyone.
So I would like to keep them.. One of the most famous grid girls was Katie Price who worked with Eddie Jordans racing team before changing her name to Jordan.
Darts suffered a similar backlash after the sport announced walk-on girls will no longer be used by the PDC following talks with broadcasters.
Women have accompanied players onto the stage for some years— something that has been regularly criticised — and the PDC decided to act despite many calling for the decision to be reversed.
The move has triggered a petition to reinstate the girls in darts. As of today it had more than 36,000 signatures. .
The PDC previously said it made its decision to end the practice of walk-on girls after receiving feedback from our host broadcasters and pressure from fans.
Other sports still employ glamorous women under the guise of entertaining the crowd before and during events. Mexican Grand Prix grid girls dress up for the occasion - but they wont be at this years race .
The announcement, however, was met with backlash, with Twitter users voicing their dismay. Boxing and UFC both have ring girls, who let the crowd know which round is coming up by holding up numbered cards, generally while wearing revealing outfits.
Cheerleaders are prevalent in American sports, with teams and franchises having their own professional cheerleading squads. Cycling is another sport which traditionally uses podium girls to pose with race winners and plant a kiss on their cheeks.
However, the Tour Down Under scrapped the use of podium girls last year and the Tour de Yorkshire instead chose to celebrate successful local businesswomen.
Cyclist Peter Sagan caused uproar in 2013 when he was pictured pinching the bottom of a podium girl after a Tour de France stage.
The 2018 F1 season begins with the Australian Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton will begin his bid to become a five-time world champion.
DARTS CHIEF HEARN BLASTS TV BOSSES FOR DECISION TO AXE WALK-ON GIRLS Darts supremo Barry Hearn has hit out at TV bosses after walk-on girls were axed from darts at televised tournaments.
It emerged last week that the sports famous girls will no longer be used by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) following talks with broadcasters.
Women have accompanied players onto the stage for some years— something that has been regularly criticised — and the PDC decided to act despite many calling for the decision to be reversed.
And Hearn, the PDCs chairman, has claimed the decision was out of his control — while he also insisted he hasnt got a problem with the walk-on girls. Speaking to talkSPORTs Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, Hearn said: Its out of my control.
Were living in changing times — the PC brigade, the liberal brigade are out in strength and its causing changes in sport everywhere we look and its probably going to get worse.
I have no personal problems whatsoever with walk-on girls in darts. None. Theyve been there from the beginning. I think the girls are great, they get paid and its a job for them. I havent got a problem.
But I do have a big problem in the age we live in – Ive got the BBC, ITV and Sky, my three UK broadcasters, saying to me this is not part of their editorial policy any longer.
They do not want to show the walk-on girls on television. If you can tell me what I can do about it, Ill do it!.
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