The document discusses how Formula One footage may display the male gaze and portray women in a negative light. It plans to analyze images and videos from Formula One's history to determine if this is true or false. It also discusses the history of Formula One and how the sport has changed over time, including the banning of grid girls in 2018 due to debates over their portrayal. The author indicates this research has increased their interest in Formula One and they plan to use what they've learned to create a documentary exploring sports from different perspectives.

1. Personal Study Essay
In my essay, I will be discussing the male gaze and how it affects the sport of Formula One. I
plan to see if formula one footage is seen as sexist or displays women in a negative light. I
will do this by researching Formula One as a whole and looking back on the history while
also analysing images and videos as to why this statement may be true or false.
“The male gaze is seen in two lights. The gaze upon ideological and ego ideal men and the
gaze upon women presented on screen as objects to be looked at by men”. In feminist
theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world from a masculine,
heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the
pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer. Changes in more recent history have attempted a
more careful approach and tried to provoke a different outlook on the male gaze with
casting more females but showing them far less like objects but more powerful and ideal
women from a woman's point of view.
Formula One automobile racing has its roots in the European Grand Prix championships of
the 1920s and 1930s, though the foundation of the modern Formula One began
in 1946 with the Fédération Internationale de automobile's (FIA) standardisation of rules,
which was followed by a World Championship of Drivers in 1950. The 2022 F1 season is a
ground-breaking year for the sport. Brand new regulations bring background effect
aerodynamics like that of the 70s and 80s but with a more refined approach. New
aerodynamics mean the cars and much different to drive from other seasons and have
somewhat regressed in pace from last year and other years. Usually, people associate the
newer machinery to be quicker and more advanced than prior years and while more
advanced may be true, you can look at the lap record for a track such as Monza (Italy) and
see it was set by former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrachello in 2004. The time of 1.21.046 is 3
seconds faster than the 2022 fastest lap set by Red Bulls Sergio Perez with a 1.24.030. While
it doesn’t seem like much 3 seconds is an age and where every millisecond counts it’s a huge
gap. The newer cars, while slower, are far better technologically with a list far longer than I
could explain. The main points are far more economical with a vow to be carbon neutral by
2027, Steering wheels have controls that can massively alter a cars performance which can
impact a race and the DRS rear wing which can give an extra 7.5mph in a straight line. In
2008, F1 faced its biggest scandal to date. The scene was set for a usual chaotic night in
Marina Bay, and all was living up to expectations as the safety car came out for an incident
on track. Renaults duo at the time consisted of 2-time world champion Fernando Alonso and
Nelson Piquet JR son of 3-time world champion Nelson Piquet sr. Alonso was in contention
for the race but pitted early so was at a big tire disadvantage in comparison to the other
runners. In order to gain an advantage, Renault team principal Flavio Briatore told Piquet to
crash into the wall so Alonso could pit under the safety car and gain an advantage. This left
F1 with quite a bad name as the media tore apart the sport. Now, there are 10
teams/constructors on the Formula. The grid is often split into 3 segments. The front
runners, the midfield and the backmarkers. The front runners in recent years have usually
been Mercedes and Red Bull with Red Bull taking the most recent drivers championship and
Mercedes taking the most recent constructers championship. The midfield consists of teams
such as Mclaren, Ferrari, Alpine and Alpha Tauri. This is usually where the competition is
most fierce as the gap between these teams is nowhere near is big as that to the front

2. runners. The back markers consist of Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Haas and Williams. All of
these teams occasionally fight for top 10 points finishes but never are consistently in the top
flight of Formula 1. With major regulation changes the order of the grid can change
drastically. For example, Aston Martin (formally Racing Point) were 4th in the championship
with a very competitive car in 2020. This year they only have a handful of points as their
design team failed to nail the regulations. Another part that got significantly slated by the
media was the use of grid girls. The media portrayed them as “there for the man’s
pleasure”. The mixed opinions over the years sparked controversy and they were led to be
removed in the 2018. Some argued they were doing their job in promoting the brand or
country they were representing while others said it was a misogynistic and old-fashioned
scheme in a male dominated sport.
Grid girl’s jobs was to carry out promotional activities for the brands they were representing
among other tasks such as showing driver numbers and cheering on the drivers. The debate
of the necessity of these girls was a serious talking point before their ban in 2018. In this
image, the lady is shown displaying Lewis Hamilton’s number on the grid in an extravagant
green dress. Some may argue it shows the girl in a negative light by displaying connotations
of her being made to wear something too revealing. Others may argue that it was her choice
to put on the dress and get the job regardless of the clothing. The phrase “they’re there for
the driver’s entertainment.” Is a phrase that circulates a lot when discussing the relevance
to the race the grid girls have and while both standpoints are understandable the green of
the dress is to represent Heineken who sponsor the grand prix. In essence they’re brand
ambassadors for a company but the debate of is the clothing they wear necessary is down
to personal views. In other cases, the girls wear national outfits to represent the country the
grand Prix is in. In the image shown with Sebastian Vettel, the girls are wearing cowboy
hats, white dresses and red cowboy boots to represent the state of Texas. The connotation
of the image is still pretty girls surrounding and posing for the drivers. The marketing behind
these girls is that of “beauty attracts” meaning more people are likely to look and pay
attention to these girls which does give the brand and the place exposure but also can over-
sexualise the girls and make them feel uncomfortable. These same girls are often seen on
the podium and with the winners of the race upon completion which can be shown with the
image of Lewis Hamilton post-race with the Russian grid girls. I personally view this as the
women being seen as the prize for the drivers post-race which in modern society is wrong
with active efforts for gender roles to be phased out of society.
“In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between
active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the
female form which is styled accordingly.” This quote by Laura Mulvey is very relevant when
thinking back to the older days of formula one. Images have been available to the public for
many years of women on the podium being portrayed as a prize for the winning driver. In
older times this may have been true as women’s rights and how women are looked at then
compared to now has changed massively with equality being at the forefront of the modern
world. The “podium girl” originally began in F1 but have been banned as of 2018 which
many called a step forward. American IndyCar however still hires these girls to go up on the
podium and display themselves to the public which many consider to be a thing of the past.
The controversy surrounding this has been a key criticism of American Motorsport as its

3. “old fashioned and rich boy history” conveys that of the retro views in a modern world. One
of the major parts of American NasCar and IndyCar is the top sitter on the podium gets a
kiss on the cheek from 2 of the podium girls. This is more predominant in the NasCar as it
has more of a deep southern American Fanbase who stereotypically have different views to
the north and other modern places. A lot of people argue that its unacceptable to make a
woman kiss a man they aren’t willing to with certain online opinions considering it a form of
abuse to the women. Other people may argue that it’s what they sign up for when they
apply for the job when representing the company or brand they’re affiliated with.
Linking this topic onto my FMP, I’ve found that the topic of F1 has become much more of an
interest to me. Researching the topic has made me want to look more into the history and
develop this idea into my FMP. The analysation of the images and videos was not only a fun
task, but it allows you to look into deeper context which benefitted my project from both a
planning and production point of view. When looking into the theory, these images and the
micro analysis help you to understand the context and when thinking of it from both sides
can give you a balanced argument. I plan to make a documentary looking at sports as a
general topic so understanding things from two points of view can be beneficial.