Ну и я так понимаю, в связи с новыми веяниями от Либерти, этим девахам тоже скоро искать новую работуA brief history of girls in F1
February 5, 2018 by Joe Saward
As even bushmen in the Kalahari now know, Formula 1 has announced that it is ending the long-standing practice of using grid girls. For many of the fans it is a bit like having Trooping the Colour without guardsmen. To be fair to the sport, it has been a long time since the girls of F1 were really raunchy in dress. I have spent an enjoyable few minutes looking at the hundreds of photos of grid girls that my colleague Peter Nygaard has taken over the years, which are on his website and what one sees instantly is that the idea originated from sponsors in the years after the so-called sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Even before that was in full swing there were people campaigning against the permissive nature of society, notably a lady called Mary Whitehouse, a staunchy conservative, who launched the Clean-Up TV group as early as 1964. She was not just opposed to sexual exploitation, she was opposed to pretty much everything: bad language, violence, homosexuality, you name it, she was against it – and this undermined her cause. In the late 1970s that things got down to bikini level before the sport headed off into an era of jump suits and big hair. The voices of complaint in recent years have not gone unnoticed and in the modern era the style has changed in many countries, although the level of elegance involved has generally depended on the individual race promoters. The ladies in Australia would not look out out of place spectating at polo matches, while the girls in China could go straight to the opera and would fit in well. The Austrians always wear dirndls and you would need to be Benny Hill to get excited about that kind of clothing. In the Middle East, where these things matter more, there are generally flight attendants (I dare not say stewardesses for fear of being lynched), with the ladies acting as direct marketing for the race sponsors. In general one sees more flesh in North America (where they seem to have a lot of it) while Malaysia went off the rails a little a few years back with silver lamé trousers, which were decidedly out of place. In Texas we tend to get cowgirls or cheerleaders, but no-one is wearing anything that their mothers would not let them go out in these days. In fact, it is quite usual for the fans to be dressed far more sexily than the grid girls. Santander, in particular, pioneered shapeless red sacks for its representatives, while TAG-Heuer showed a little more imagination with elegant dresses, with some cheeky TAG tattoos at Monte Carlo.
Still, Liberty Media feels that it is better for F1 to get rid of these troublesome women and I am curious to see what happens next. I notice that the company also owns the Atlanta Braves baseball team, which according to its website has a very active cheerleader team, none of them being men. In fact, they wear less demure things than most F1 grid girls. It will be most interesting to see if these ladies are also dispensed with, or wether Liberty will leave itself open to accusations of having double standards and accepting something in the United States while rejecting the same thing in Formula 1.
Anyway, the Formula One group and the FIA has now announced a new partnership, called Grid Kids, to make the pre-race ceremony more relevant and interesting for fans, especially the younger ones. The joint initiative will involve the local Grand Prix promoter working alongside ASNs – the FIA-recognised national sporting authorities – who will provide a unique opportunity to youngsters and their families to be part of one of the most exclusive and exciting moments of the whole race weekend. The youngsters will be chosen by their motorsport clubs on merit, or by lottery, and will already be competing in karting or junior formulae. The lucky few will then be able to accompany and stand alongside the 20 best drivers in the world on the grid as they prepare for the race.
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