Stop objectifying women – Stacey Copeland reacts to return of female models to the Formula 1 Grid

BBC Sports report that boxer and anti-sexism campaigner Stacey Copeland, said that it is wrong to objectify women in sport. Her comment came after world champion Lewis Hamilton welcomed the return of “beautiful” women to the F1 grid. It has been announced that watchmaker Tag Heuer will feature female models before Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix – though not in ‘grid girl’ roles. Copeland told BBC Sport: “It doesn’t add anything and enough is enough.

“It’s not about ugly versus beautiful, it’s saying the sexual objectification of women in sport is not OK.”

Formula One’s new owners Liberty Media had previously said “grid girls” were “clearly at odds with modern day societal norms,” ending a practice that had been a staple of the sport for decades, though Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel offered a different slant.

“I think women are the most beautiful thing in the world,” Hamilton told reporters Wednesday, after organisers confirmed TAG Heuer would continue its longstanding promotional arrangement with the race.

“When we pull up to the grid and there’s beautiful women on the grid, that’s the Monaco Grand Prix, that’s a lovely thing.”

The BBC reports that “The Giro d’Italia remains the only one of the major cycling tours which features female models kissing the respective leading riders after the end of each stage. The Tour de France no longer uses podium girls, and the Vuelta a Espana used smartly-dressed men and women in 2017.

Giro race director Mauro Vegni said earlier this year that the halt in using the models in other races is just a fad. “RCS Sport [race organisers] believe that in this specific moment it is more of a temporary trend to remove them from sport events,” he said. “As long as those girls are treated with respect and carry on their job in a professional manner, there is no reason for changing the hospitality process.”