‘Grid girls’ will no longer be used by Formula 1 from the start of the 2018 World Championship season, organisers have announced.
Sean Bratches, managing director of commercial operations, said the change would be made “so as to be more in tune with our vision for this great sport”.
F1 managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn told BBC Radio 5 live in December that the use of female promotional models was “under review”.
The new F1 season begins on 25 March.
“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,” Bratches added.
“We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world.”
Last week, the Professional Darts Corporation said walk-on girls will no longer be used at events.
Soon after, the Women’s Sport Trust tweeted: “We applaud the Professional Darts Corporation moving with the times and deciding to no longer use walk-on-girls. Motor racing, boxing and cycling… your move.”
In December, BBC Sport carried out a vote on whether ‘grid girls’ should be part of Formula 1, with 60% saying that they should be.
What did they actually do?
‘Grid girls’ are models used to conduct certain promotional tasks, usually wearing clothing that bears the name of a sponsor.
Their duties in F1 included holding umbrellas or driver name-boards on the grid and lining the corridor through which the drivers walk on their way to the podium.
Their use has become the subject of debate as social attitudes have changed, and some races have begun to experiment with alternatives, such as using male models instead of female, or children as mascots.
The first race of the season is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.