WATCH: When Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel urged F1 to bring back ‘beautiful’ grid girls

Grid Girls during race weekends added to the glamor of Formula 1 in the past. However, they were banned in 2018.

WATCH: When Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel urged F1 to bring back ‘beautiful’ grid girls

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton (via IMAGO).

Formula 1 has had a lot of major changes since its inception back in 1950. Although some changes were in the best interest of the safety of the drivers, other changes weren’t always as supported as others. One such change that saw a lot of backlash was banning the Grid Girls back in 2018. FIA made it clear that due to sport’s interest in modern societal norms, grid girls wouldn’t be included ever again in F1. However, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel argued against this decision.

Hence, in a subsequent interview in 2018, multiple drivers including Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton argued against the removal of the grid girls. Hamilton insisted that women were the most beautiful thing in the world and that their involvement with the sport as Grid Girls did not harm anyone. This comment from the Briton was obvious as he is a major advocate for women’s empowerment and their involvement in the men-dominated sport of F1.

I think women are the most beautiful thing in the world, so....
Hamilton said in a press conference (H&T: @TypicalF1/Youtube).
YouTube video

Subsequently, Sebastian Vettel resonated with what the seven-time world champion had to say about the grid girls. Vettel agreed with Lewis and asserted that he liked women and thought of them as beautiful. Additionally, the four-time world champion claimed he wouldn’t be as interested if genders were switched and guys were to take the grid girls’ spot.

I agree with Lewis, I like women, I think they look beautiful.. so if there was guys, I was just not interested.. nothing against those guys. But just didn't care as much.

Charles Leclerc resonated with the former world champion’s mindset

Even the then-21-year-old Charles Leclerc agreed with what the two F1 veterans had to say about the grid girls. The Monegasque insisted that he had a pretty similar opinion to Vettel and Hamilton. It was positive to have some girls on the grid according to Leclerc. The then-Sauber driver followed this statement with another humorous comment about his girlfriend not being okay with these comments.

Charles Leclerc.
Charles Leclerc (via IMAGO).

Leclerc explained that these comments were not in the best interest of him as he already had a girlfriend. However, the idea of including grid girls was highly supported by the four drivers present in the pres-conference. Hence FIA might have to reconsider the involvement of the iconic grid girls during race weekends in Formula 1.

The inclusion of grid girls added to the glamour of Formula 1 and did not cause any major issues to the sport as backed by Hamilton and Vettel. However, FIA is not looking to reinstate the former grid girls anytime soon as the governing body has not made any comments about the situation yet. Instead, the sports governing body hopes to encourage for female participation in junior racing categories.

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