F1 Grid Girls Budapest 2006-08-06

The average age for these girls is late teens to early twenties and demand for them wanes with age. Some go on to become models or even actresses but those who are unable to leverage their career into something larger. It is not unusual for some of them to have a background in or a sideline career as an gravure idol. Race queens who operate in prestigious events and with a large fanbase can also be found at automobile shows purely to draw crowds where they are nearly as important an attraction as the cars or electronics products that they are promoting. There is also a magazine dedicated to them called Gals Paradise.
The models, referred as "grid/pit girls" in Europe, are very common in many series worldwide, but are mostly banned in the United States due to the reasons of being associated with sexism, as many drivers' wives, in addition to women race officials, team public relations staff, members of the media, and in some cases mechanics or drivers are prevalent in the paddocks, notably Kimberly Lopez-Johnson, the Chief Starter in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and inspector in all three national series. Furthermore, because of the manner of dress of these models, insurance companies (Indianapolis 500 driver Larry Rice later became an insurance agent who specialises in motorsport insurance) regard the models as a safety hazard because of stringent dress codes imposed in the garage and pit areas by many sanctioning bodies; in New Jersey, the stringent dress codes effectively ban the models. In DTM and some other events, organizers have started to recruit male models as in startlines, mostly on female drivers' cars.