F1 recognises need to be 'more progressive' with grid girls

Formula 1 is working hard to find a "more progressive" involvement for grid girls in the series following recent debate about their usage, according to one of its leading commercial figures.

The use of grid girls ahead of races across motorsport has come into question in recent years, with the FIA World Endurance Championship scrapping the tradition back in 2015.

Pressure has been placed on F1 owner Liberty Media to take similar action amid sentiment the use of grid girls is outdated and sexist, with sporting chief Ross Brawn confirming last month plans were in place to review them.

Murray Barnett, F1's head of global sponsorship and commercial partnerships, has now confirmed that Liberty wants to find a solution to change perceptions about grid girls by adjusting their involvement in the series.

“We’re 100% committed to looking into grid girls and making them a more relevant part of the competition rather than just holding a board and standing next to a car,” Barnett told Marketing Week.

“We want to make them fully integrated into the programme and change the perception of what their involvement in the sport is.

"We haven’t quite cracked what this will look like, but we’ve recognised we need to become more progressive there."

Barnett is eager to see more women take up senior positions in F1, believing there is room for improvement despite the likes of Claire Williams and Monisha Kaltenborn enjoying high management roles at teams in recent years.

"There is a fierce debate about whether we should have a separate female F1 competition or to keep it fully integrated and let women drivers take part in a mixed gender competition like some have done in the past," Barnett said.

“We have a lot of women in senior management positions at F1, so we’re not as bad as you think.

"But there’s definitely a lot of room to grow."