I was hoping to write something a little more fun and light hearted about Formula 1 as my first racing blog post.  However news today that Formula 1 is banning grid girls has forced me to get something off my chest.

Before I begin I would like to provide a brief backstory for my readers who maybe don’t follow Formula 1 like I do.  Grid girls are the people who hold a sign of the drivers name on the grid such as the header of this post.

They are meant to be pretty, smiling, and immobile.  That’s pretty much it.  They are “eye candy” plain and simple.

Today F1 has announced starting in 2018 they will not be using grid girls.

So the reaction has been reasonable, right?

Sadly, no.

There seems to be a certain amount of outrage from “F1 fans” saying it is another attempt at ruining the sport, that the fans aren’t being listened to, and that they will stop watching Formula 1.

My question is why?????

What benefit did having grid girls bring?  At best they were an interesting throwback to Formula 1 of the swinging 70’s, and at worst they were a blatant display of sexism in racing.  “Girls you go look pretty while the men drive the cars.”

My personal opinion is that grid girls didn’t bother me THAT much but it still bothered me.  The sight of these girls lining up in the tunnel to the podium, applauding the drivers in unison seemed creepy and forced.  They did nothing to add to the show, and in fairness were hardly noticeable at all while standing on the grid.  Grids that are already jam packed with drivers, mechanics, and various other VIP’s.  So the loss of them seemed like a good idea to me.  Their time had passed LONG ago.

And the more I think about it today, I would rather girls who watch motorsport look up to the drivers, and engineers and think they could do that one day too.  Not look at some pretty, smiling and immobile woman standing holding a sign and thinking that is the only place for her.

Racing is better than that, and if you are going to stop watching Formula 1 because there are no longer grid girls… I hate the break it too you… but you were never a fan in the first place.