The new great grid girl debate

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

You're right in that the biggest problem is the quality of the racing, so I certainly misspoke over what the biggest issue is. However, that doesn't really change anything in regards to the moral decision around grid girls, and certainly doesn't change the fact that you don't work on one problem at a time in a linear fashion. This is just deflection from the actual topic.

Ok but why wasn't the moral decision made before October 2017?

Originally Posted by Sean Bratches 31 January 2018

“While the practice of employing grid girls has been a staple of Formula 1 Grands Prix for decades, we feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values and clearly is at odds with modern-day societal norms. We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world.”

[emphasis added]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

We're still pushing this idea that they shouldn't make morally correct decisions because they haven't sorted the locked in technical regulations that they have very little control over. That way madness lies.

Disagree entriely. Since if you take the moral high ground on something be prepared for the consequences:

The brand values mentioned above appear to be for childish announcements of drivers (see Austin last year); some kind of mascot; an inability to control the manufacturers; and, a pointless change to the timing of the events.

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Liberty don't make a change: amateurs
Liberty make a change: doing it for marketing
Liberty don't reinvent the worlds most complicated sporting and technical regulations within a couple of months of taking control: inability to manage

They're being put in a lose-lose situation by people who have already made up their minds on what they expect Liberty to do.

They've put themselves in that position by what I can only assume is a rush of naivity. Agreed they've only been there a year but surely in that year rather than do daft stuff like following the herd, they should just concentrate on the real issue. Nothing wrong in adopting, adapting and improving. But to make it work it has to be in that order. Not what this was, a knee jerk reaction.

And now they have Monaco and Russia refusing to comply. What will they do about that? I'd assume they would have to cancel the meetings because it does not reflect the company's moral ideals.

I do have a view about the #metoo movement which started in October last year, but it is not relevant to this discussion. Nonetheless if it locks away slime-balls like those who are alleged to have carried out these atrocities then more power to the movement.