Todt dismisses grid girls furore as 'nonsense'

Jean Todt (FRA), FIA President. Albert Park Circuit.

FIA President Jean Todt has said that the recent debate about the appearance of grid girls in Formula 1 was "nonsense".

The sport recently announced that scantily-clad girls would no longer be used as part of the pre-race preparations. Instead, local rising motorsports stars will be given a chance to get a taste of being on the grid.

While the decision has been well received in some quarters, others feel that it is a mistake to discontinue one of motorsport's decades-old traditions.

"For me it's no problem," Todt told Auto Bild this week at the Geneva International motor show. "In fact it's a stupid problem.

"I have no desire and no time in my life to discuss grid girls," he added. "I'm sorry there's so much talk about a nonsense."

Inevitably, Todt was also asked about comments made by Carmen Jorda at the weekend.

The former Renault development driver, who was appointed to the FIA's Women in Motorsport Commission last year, said that Formula 1 was too "physical" for women drivers who should look to competing in Formula E instead.

Button takes issue with Jorda's women driver comments

Last year Jorda had also backed a women-only motorracing championship.

"I believe a women's F1 championship would give us the chance to achieve our dreams and compete on an equal footing," she said in November.

Neither comment had down well with the FIA president, however.

"I'm in favour of women in racing," Todt responded. "I'm a bit frustrated that we do not have enough. But I'm against a championship for women only."

Todt said that he already had his hands full on managing the FIA's portfolio of existing championships.

"My concern now is about making the right decisions for the future of the sport in general."

One of his more pressing headaches is ensuring that Ferrari doesn't decide to quit Formula 1 over opposition to proposed changed to the sport after 2021.

"If we do a good job, then we will not lose the most important participants," Todt told Speed Week. "I love Ferrari, but I'm not worried about them leaving.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.