Formula 1 Grid Girls, Photo Wikimedia Commons Free to use
Photo by Bertram NudelbachLicensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
There was a time when they were as much a part of F1 as the smell of burnt rubber and the pop of champagne on the podium.
Smiling women in sponsor-branded outfits, holding umbrellas, guiding to their cars and the so called grid girls.
They were glamorous, elegand, for decades they stood beside the greatest names in motorsport, from Senna to Schumacher and in 2018, they are not anymore on the grid.
Even earlier in the 70s, grid girls were there and we remember many moments with James Hunt or Winkelhock around grid girls
It was not quiet nor it was simple, what looked like a harmless tradition to some had suddenly become a symbol of something bigger, a clash between nostalgia and progress.
It was theatre!
For many grid girls represented an era when racing was more than sport and it was theatre, roaring engines, the celebrity energy, it was all part of the spectacle in F1, having models on the grid felt natural, a continuation of the jet-set lifestyle that surrounded F1 in the ’70s and ’80s.
Even sponsor loved it too, the women wore branded attire that turned every photo into subtle advertising, fans saw it as part of the visual indentity of race day.
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The Moment the Cracks Appeared
By the late of 2010s, F1 was no longer isolated from the cultural conversations happening outside the paddock, F1 wanted to be seen as modern and inclusive, the idea of this felt outdated anymore.
Many questions were asked lately, why they should stand beside the athletes, and does this reflect the values of today’s world, things needed to change.
It was not just moral discomfort, F1 was trying to expand in new markets, keeping the grid girls felt like clinging to an era the sport was trying to outgrow.
The decision
Finally in 2018 things changed a lot, and F1 is about racing and making the best cars in the world, people had to focus on cars and things happening in the paddock.
Grid girls lately, did not made much difference in the paddock, world changed and morally F1 wanted to defend something that was needed, for everyone.nd.
Goodbye Glamour, Hello Grid Kids
In 2018, Formula 1 made the call. The grid girls were gone, replaced by something symbolic: Grid Kids. Instead of models, young karting hopefuls — boys and girls — would line up beside the drivers before the start lights.
The move wasn’t about stripping the grid of glamour; it was about giving it new meaning. It turned the pre-race moment into a celebration of future talent, not physical appearance. It sent a message that Formula 1 was about passion, competition, and inspiration — not just pageantry.
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Not Everyone Agreed
Some fans felt a piece of F1’s identity had been erased, for them grid girls were never a problem and it was just part of the culture, elegant and professional and proud of what they did.
Others saw it differently, the sport had to find its place in a changing world, which is the right thing to do.
It was not an easy decision to do but it did not please everyone, but in reality, that change was the right thing for everyone.
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It was only one chapter in F1 wider transformation, the sport began promoting diversity, supporting programs like the W series, young female engineers and drivers to enter the paddock, it was a slow shift, F1 wanted to show the world that anyone with talent could belong.
Echoes of a Lost Glamour
Today, grid girls exist only in memories and old photos which is a symbol of how much the sport has changed in the last few years.
F1 did not just remove a tradition it rewrote part of its story, now we have girls in the paddock as engineers or part of the teams, even race strategy engineer at Red Bull, Hannah Schmitz.
