Team bosses bat for continuation of F1 `grid girls`

Johannesburg [South Africa]: Formula One bosses want the ‘grid girls’ to continue to be a part of the sport.

F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn revealed that they are reviewing the practice of having women fulfilling the role as grid girls.

Earlier this month, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen had urged for the grid girls to stay.

“The grid girls must stay,” Sport24 quoted Verstappen as saying.

Describing ‘grid girls’ as an integral part of F1, German driver Nico Hulkenberg said, “It would be a pity if they took the eye-jewellery from the grid.”

This week, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne also joined the bandwagon of people defending the idea of grid girls.

Meanwhile, Marchionne’s Italian colleague Maurzio Arrivabene also echoed similar views as he also admitted that grid girls have been an important part of the sport for so many years now.

“Grid girls were an integral part of Formula 1 for many years. I think Ross Brawn has more complex and important things to take care of,” Arrivabene said.

Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko, on the other hand, said that he could not imagine the proposal of banning grid girls.

“I just cannot imagine that.In America, cheerleaders appear before, during and after every game so I see no reason why this should not be done in Formula 1”, he said.

Recently, the use of grid girls in the F1 has become a subject of debate, with some races started experimenting with male models instead of female, or using children as mascots.(ANI)