Leilani Dowding, an English model and former Formula 1 grid girl, is calling for actress Sydney Sweeney to help bring grid girls back to the sport ahead of next week’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Grid girls were removed from Formula 1 before the 2018 season after organizers argued the practice no longer fit the sport’s brand values. Dowding, 46, says she never accepted that reasoning and still doesn’t.
She was in Los Angeles when the decision was announced and learned about it from the newspapers.
“I thought it was crazy. I remember thinking, ‘what is going on?’ It was always really welcoming,” Dowding told GrandPrix247 in a recent interview.
“The only people who would say stupid things, such as that we were being objectified, were people who weren’t involved and had never spoken to us. They were looking in from the outside.”
Dowding argues the moment is right for grid girls to return, pointing to Formula 1’s increasingly entertainment-driven approach and the Las Vegas Grand Prix in particular as the ideal stage. Her pick to lead the comeback: Sydney Sweeney.
“Sydney Sweeney would make a fantastic grid girl. I’d love to see her doing it for the Las Vegas GP, she’d be one of my favorites. She should get her boots on and get on that grid,” Dowding said.
“I think she’d be wonderful. She’d make so many people angry, especially because you can just imagine them raging, with steam coming out of their heads.”
There’s no indication Sweeney has been approached or has any plans to take part in the Las Vegas Grand Prix. For now, Dowding’s proposal remains just that — a proposal from a former grid girl who wants the tradition restored and sees Sweeney as the right person to force the issue.
