Celebrities on the Grid?

[Calman]

A subject which always comes up in my other F1 circles, is the presence of Celebs on the Grid/Paddock or buzzing around F1 venues someplace!

I would really like to hear (got the correct 'hear' for once) your opinion on the whole "Celeb Thing".  I freely admit, I wanted to throw a brick at the TV on some of Martin's past Grid Walks, as people like Venus Williams, Naomi Campbell, Owen Wilson etc, either rudely blanked him or presented him with a stupid reply.   Of course, we all must remember Ozzy's Rasputin bumbling reply! 

There have been some decent, knowledgeable Celebs on the grid of course, but the "painful individuals" stand out the most.

All the best,
Cal

[cosworth151]

If it's somebody who is an F1 fan (or at least has some interest in it), that's fine. If they're there just to "be seen" and don't have a clue about it, no. Just stick them in the V.I.P. tent & don't inflict them on us.

[John S]

Just part of the circus around F1 as far as I'm concerned.

I've thought for sometime that the grid walk is now done by so many different TV stations that it's being ducked by a lot of drivers & looking old hat.

Maybe a change is due. I'd prefer to have 2 or 3 knowledgeable heads discuss how they feel the race will pan out over images of the bustling grid.

[guest3164]

You're not wrong, I used to really enjoy the grid walk but now it is largely pointless, the same soundbites as people are just bored of it.  The obligatory interview with some 'dignitary' who is largely clueless about the sport (knows the names of Hamilton and/or Ferrari).  You used to get better driver thoughts and more knowledgeable celebrities but now it is more of a meat market of people trying to be seen.  That's fair enough, I guess it is part of F1, but you just feel a tad frustrated and maybe it would be nice to have some lucky prize winners of real fans who get to do the grid stuff.  Maybe I am just jealous of the celebs 

[Scott]

I’m with Cos, aside from the odd fan among the celebrities, it’s pointless to have the media stop and talk to them.  I would actually prefer to have the grid populated by team members and drivers.

The grid “walk” turned into a dash with (on Ch4) Coulthard and Webber running like idiots around and asking brief and superficial questions as the are pigeon-heading looking for the next victim.  I agree they should just have one or two people per language and have the camera people do more snooping of the cars while the reporter asks a question somewhere else.  Just my opinion. 

[Jericoke]

I think we've missed an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone:  replace the Grid Girls with celebrities!

They still get to be seen, and they're not being useless.

[Ian]

I agree that useless 'celebs' are annoying. I've always thought that a better idea would be a lottery of sorts, as your tickets are scanned on the way in load them all in a data base and let the computer randomly pick say two or three lucky ticket holders onto the grid, that way you'd get true F1 fans there and and what a bonus it would be for the lucky fans.

[lkjohnson1950]

Looking at ESPN's schedule, we may not get the grid walk in the US this year.

[Calman]

If my memory serves me well, I think there was a race in 2017 where the Grid Walk didn't occur? ... can't remember which venue.  I know Martin had health issues, stemming from his run to the Podium in Monaco?? ... so I wonder if the grid walk was cancelled due to some repercussion of Martin's health issues???

I know that at least 2-3 Grid Walks were very uncomfortable outings, mainly due to stupid, ignorant Celebs, so I wondered at the time, whether they were trying to dissolve the segment????

All the best,
Cal