For Formula One, sex sells; but not the way Max likes it

Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid say the motorsport industry is in turmoil — and could lose millions in sponsorship — as a result of Max Mosley’s tabloid embarrassment

Few sports have a sexier brand image than Formula One. Race-cars snaking through the streets of Monaco past grandstands full of the world’s most glamorous women; grid girls in tight T-shirts; top models such as Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum hanging off the arms of the team bosses: F1 has always used glamour to boost its global appeal. But in the past month the sport has gained an association more akin to Soho than St Tropez. Its mystique has been shattered and F1 is just beginning to count the cost.

Just before this year’s F1 season started in March the sport’s commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone said that there was one thing his global motor racing circus lacked: ‘There aren’t enough sex scandals.’ He should have been more careful what he wished for.