[Cyborg]

This step is regressive rather than forward thinking. What's wrong with adding glamour to the F1 grid which these beautiful girls are providing. Does anybody see any gun being put to any girls head?

At this rate beauty contests and the like should also be banned - ridiculous.

OT: this whole #metoo etc is blown completely out of proportion too. There should be a statute of limitations for complaints of this nature. Bringing up a complaint 20-30 years after the fact, come on. Mostly this is done for the girls 5 minutes of fame now.

Cheers

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

What's wrong with adding glamour to the F1 grid which these beautiful girls are providing.

I'll miss the grid girls too. But the fact is that a pretty girl has really nothing to do with motorsport and the fact is that it does objectify women, so this step is certainly in keeping with the times. A positive one.

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Bringing up a complaint 20-30 years after the fact, come on.

So, if you, or a female relative of yours were the victim of a serious crime at the hands of a powerful figure and now finally you have the opportunity and support to speak out and perhaps get some form of justice, you should instead shut up just because it happened a couple of decades ago? How interesting.

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Mostly this is done for the girls 5 minutes of fame now.

Are you serious man?! Some of the most famous actresses in the world are coming out with stories of their bad experiences for '5 minutes of fame'?! Do you have female friends? Please ask them if any of them would even consider reporting something like this just for 'fame'.

[RiderZone]

I wrote an article about why stopping the tradition of grid girls is a good idea. However, almost immediately after I finished it, I got doubtful about the value of my words, mostly because it completely ignores what the grid girls want to do. Here's a Facebook post from a grid girl explaining her position.

There are a few inconsistencies in her statement, but let's only focus on the sentiment of her post. Her point is that being a grid girl is just like any other job, it requires hard work, networking, and you get paid. Why should she be deprived of a job opportunity just because society has suddenly decided to overcompensate for their abuses against women throughout history?

I can't think of any logical argument against this position. Objectification of women is strictly a male issue, a woman should be able to walk naked through our streets without being objectified, but that doesn't happen. Wearing a skirt is not an invitation, enjoying a drink is not an invitation, explicitly saying no is not an invitation.

However, the problem with this argument is that it assumes an ideal society. It assumes that humans are flawless and operate like Vulcans, purely on logic, without any emotions attached. A society in which thousands of women came forward with #MeToo simply can't be perfect.

Women are not treated as equal, that is evidenced by the gender pay gap, lack of equal representation by women in high-ranking civilian and government posts, and the constant stream of physical and mental abuse that flows against them. The use of grid girls is a small symptom of a huge problem, we aren't doing much about the problem, so the focus is on treating the symptoms.

This is progress of sorts, but ironically the progress is made by excluding women from doing a particular thing. The point is that there is no good reason to stop paddock girls from doing their jobs, however the reasons that are provided in favor of them don't hold much water either. Stopping the practice of grid girl seems like the only option we have at the moment, simply for the lack of a better idea that we are willing to implement.

[Fullrevs]

Its funny how Liberty have gone on to say that having grid girls pose in front of the cars doesn't suit their vision of F1 for the future. I hope they don't intend on having robots.

I think the original idea of the grid girl standing there with the number of the driver on a tall display board was for the roaming public on the grid before the race starts. So what are they replacing the grid girls with?

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by am1m

Are you serious man?! Some of the most famous actresses in the world are coming out with stories of their bad experiences for '5 minutes of fame'?! Do you have female friends? Please ask them if any of them would even consider reporting something like this just for 'fame'.

There are all types of men and women in the world.

The statute of limitations would weed out the ones with no merit to a large extent. The sheer number of women who have come out in chorus today are impossible to believe in its entirety. Even 20-30 years ago there were enough reporters who were hungry for a story of this magnitude. Why the complete silence for all this time? Nowadays its extremely easy for someone with an axe to grind to cook up a story, how is going to be proven after all these years? Meanwhile, the man's life is completely destroyed whether he is guilty or not. Is that fair?

Please do a quick search on the net and you will find cases of women who have falsely accused men of molestation and/or rape. Off the top of my head there was this recent case of a woman who falsely accused a police detective of raping her. Her story was checked out and was proven to be false and she was given a prison sentence for her misdeeds. If I remember correctly it was in the UK, but not sure.

It would be very naive to believe it doesn't happen.

Mods, please excuse the off topic discussion. No more from my side. Thanks.

Cheers

[Porcupine]

Haas first to reveal 2018 F1 car

Want to know what a 2018 F1 car will look like? Then look no further. Haas have become the first team to release images of their latest challenger, with digital renderings of the VF-18 showing just how different this season's machines will look compared to their predecessors.

Described as an evolution of the team’s second car, the VF-17, which carried the American team to eighth in the constructors’ standings last year, the most obvious visible differences to the VF-18 are the addition of the halo cockpit safety device and the removal of the sharkfin engine cover and T-wing - which have both been outlawed this year.

Source: Formula 1

[fz_rider]

Apart from Mercedes and Ferrari, Toro Rosso fired up the engine for first time. Here's there cheeky take :

[jfxavier]

Originally Posted by Porcupine

Haas first to reveal 2018 F1 car

The HAAS halo doesn't look that intrusive.
The aero details, especially ahead of the side pods reminds of last year's Ferrari.
I believe the Haas that turns up at Melbourne would look a bit different from this one.

Originally Posted by fz_rider

Apart from Mercedes and Ferrari, Toro Rosso fired up the engine for first time. Here's there cheeky take :

Hopefully Honda will do a great job over this winter and STR will be competitive at the start of the season itself.
The Amazon prime documentary did not do much good for their reputation.

[dZired]

Williams becomes the second team to unveil 2018 contender.



Source

[RM Motorsports]

Some more pictures of Williams FW41

[fz_rider]

McLaren fires up the Renault engine.
Sounds okay, no hiccups for McLaren as of now.

https://mobile.twitter.com/McLarenF1...715660/video/1

[Monolithic]

Originally Posted by fz_rider

McLaren fires up the Renault engine.
Sounds okay, no hiccups for McLaren as of now.

I'm concerned with the look on their faces. Are they being cautious and not having high hopes or was this a Honda like fire up?

In any case, I just hope McRenault is really competitive this year.

[RM Motorsports]

Redbull 2018 challenger reveled.

[parrys]

Originally Posted by fz_rider

McLaren fires up the Renault engine.
Sounds okay, no hiccups for McLaren as of now.

https://mobile.twitter.com/McLarenF1...715660/video/1

I suggest every one does watch the McLaren Honda web series on Amazon prime video.

After watching that, looking at the guys in this video, I am sure they are happier than before.

[deetjohn]

McLaren has released a teaser and it looks like the car will be the traditional papaya orange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcfVnoRT-og

When I first saw the thumbnail of that video, I thought they got Ron Dennis back.

Originally Posted by RM Motorsports

Redbull 2018 challenger reveled.

This livery is not final and is a special edition. The paint job that will be used in race trim will only break cover at the preseason testing.