Russia signals determination to keep the girls on the grid

The promoter of the Russian Grand Prix has restated his intention to find a way around Formula 1's 'ban' on grid girls.

"We do not want to give up girls," said Sergei Vorobiev. "They are wonderful.

"We are developing creative approaches that will allow the girls to remain next to the cars," he revealed.

"It could be athletes. It could be representatives of the world of Russian art. But my task is to have our girls still going on the starting grid."

The plan to keep girls on the grid in Sochi has been backed by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.

"If we manage to reach agreement, we plan to reinstate this tradition," Kozak told Interfax at the weekend. "After all, our girls are the most beautiful."

Formula 1's new commercial rights holders Liberty Media announced earlier this year that they were doing away with the tradition of glamorous girls holding boards indicating where each driver should line up on the starting grid before a Grand Prix.

Instead, a new system of 'grid kids' has been proposed. This will see young aspiring drivers selected by local motor sport clubs, regardless of gender.

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But Vorobiev cast doubt on the wisdom of this approach. He suggested that it wasn't a great idea to have children close to potentially dangerous motor racing equipement.

"We foresee that when children are close to cars, this is fraught with difficulties relating to security and image."

However, Vorobiev wasn't ruling out the use of 'grid kids' for the Russian Grand Prix which will be held in September.

"If we find the right approach and how to make the children's participation justified, we will of course do it," he said.

The decision to replace grid girls hasn't been universally popular. Formula 1's previous CEO Bernie Ecclestone is among those to criticise the move, calling it 'prudish'.

Coincidentally, Ecclestone met with the promoter last weekend in Bahrain.

"We are still friends and we talked very well," said Vorobiev. "We shared our memories of various good projects of the past."

If Russia does manage to keep the glamour on the grid, it won't be the first Grand Prix to buck the grid girl ban. The Automobile Club of Monaco has already secured a one-off agreement with Liberty for next month's race.

"They'll be there, on the gird," said ACM president Michel Boeri. "They're pretty and the cameras will be on them once again.

"But they won't be holding any name-boards," he conceded.

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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.