Jo Polley in favour of F1 grid girls, saying it helped her racing career

Jo Polley says she is against the removal of F1 grid girls, saying the role helped her develop her racing career.

The sport decided that the long-standing practice is "clearly at odds with modern-day societal norms" but Polley, who currently races in the MINI Challenge Championship and used to be a grid girl at the British Touring Car Championship, thinks the move is wrong.

Speaking on Sportswomen, Polley said: "I just think it's ridiculous. It's a case of the world gone mad and it's double standards.

"Women campaigned 100 years ago to get the vote to say what we want to do and the promo industry is an industry that a lot of young girls do for aspiring actresses and models.

"It's a job that they love doing, and who's got the right to say that it doesn't fit in with societal norms? It's ridiculous.

"My argument is, who says that those girls standing there looking pretty haven't got brains or they're not doing what they want to do...

"I posted a picture on social media of me stood in a cat suit doing my grid job and one of me stood in my race suit in front of my race car - one's seen as a role model and one's seen as degrading to women but it's the same girl and I'm doing what I love, so who's to judge?

"F1 is very inaccessible and I think it's making itself more inaccessible. If you look at British Touring Car Championships, which is where I was a grid girl, everybody pulled together and took a stand against it because the grid girls are one of the team."

Grid girls are to be replaced with "grid kids" - young karters and aspiring racing drivers - with children selected by each grand prix's national sporting authority.

"I'm all for encouraging children into motorsport but I think the way they've gone about it is wrong," Polley added. "It's obviously a knee-jerk reaction to the backlash they've had from the axing of grid girls.

"I think they'd be better encouraging children at school level into grassroots motorsport that is accessible.

"Standing on a podium with a driver for five seconds with cameras in their faces isn't really a true representation of motorsport.

"Instead they should be going out into the national club meetings where you can walk around the paddock, you can meet the drivers and talk to the mechanics and they can get an idea of where they can actually realistically get in and start in motorsport which then could potentially lead them to becoming an F1 driver."

Polley, who has raced cars since the age of 15, believes being a grid girl gave her the opportunity to become a professional driver.

She said: "It did, undoubtedly. It opened up doors to me.

"I came from grassroots level racing and becoming a grid girl introduced me to a higher level of motorsport in the British Touring Car arena and it opened up endless doors for me with my career and my racing."