Influencers were cut from the guest list for the grand prix’s opening event, Glamour on the Grid, but now some of them are back in the fold.
Australian Grand Prix boss Travis Auld wants to reinvent the event by slashing numbers for the opening party, which previously involved up to 800 black tie and ball gown-clad guests descending on the pit lane for an evening of champagne, oysters shucked to order and lobster rolls.
In previous years, Glamour on the Grid has been full of social media influencers, but only 450 guests have been invited this year in what organisers say is a “highly curated guest list of global tastemakers, sporting icons, cultural leaders and creatives”.
Auld says the Grand Prix Corporation had received feedback on the number of influencers attending, although he insists the cutbacks are not specifically about having fewer influencers but rather about having a balance of guests.
“Influencers is a very broad term,” he says. “We have people who are fanatical F1 fans. We have people who come because they love the music or the fashion or the food.”
Some influencers who were cut from the guest list, such as TikToker Kimerah Ramnath, known as “F1Kimiz”, took to social media to complain about their exclusion.
“I did not get invited to Glamour on the Grid this year and you know what that’s OK,” Ramnath posted. “The reasoning that I got was that it is more exclusive this year, totally fine, I don’t fit your demographic of more exclusive.”
However, on Monday, Ramnath posted on social media again to celebrate getting invited after complaints from her followers.
“We did it!” she told her followers. “My Glamour on the Grid invite has arrived. The problem I have now is that it’s Monday, Glamour on the Grid is on Wednesday, I need a dress.”
Ramnath posted a mood board of dresses she wanted to wear to the event and asked for assistance from anyone in Melbourne who could “help me with a dress”.
The changes to Glamour on the Grid are part of a broader shake-up of the Australian Grand Prix, with Qatar Airways as the new naming rights sponsor. Luxury behemoth Louis Vuitton lasted only one year as the major sponsor and was relegated to luggage case sponsor this year.
Organisers claim the revamped Glamour on the Grid event will be “reimagined as a more intimate and elevated experience” but declined to say whether the budget had been cut for the event.
“I don’t think we targeted a particular audience and said we either want more or less of you,” Auld says. “It’s more just making sure that it’s more comfortable and more manageable numbers.”
Guests will enter on the Albert Park circuit’s starting grid rather than pit lane and will be offered a tasting of Penfold’s Grange wine.
Despite the claims of a guest list of “global tastemakers”, there are no Hollywood celebrities on the list and even politicians are likely to be thin on the ground. Premier Jacinta Allan and Opposition Leader Jess Wilson are staying away.
Three-time F1 world champion Jackie Stewart is expected to attend, along with Martin Pakula, chair of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, Sport and Tourism Minister Steve Dimopoulos and Lord Mayor Nick Reece.
The guest list includes Winter Olympians Cooper Woods and Scotty James and his wife, Chloe Stroll, whose brother is Aston Martin Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll.
Business leaders who have been invited include Mecca founder Jo Horgan, Mushroom chief executive Matt Gudinski and Crown Resorts chief executive David Tsai.
F1 drivers are focused on resting before the race or attending sponsor commitments elsewhere in Melbourne, but some of their partners are expected to attend, including Hannah St John, the partner of Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, and Tiffany Cromwell, partner of Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas.
The Australian cyclist says she is looking forward to a chance to switch out of her sports gear into black tie.
“I definitely like the opportunity to get dressed up when I can because I do spend a lot of my life in tracksuits,” Cromwell says. “I’m looking forward to experiencing it, seeing who else is there and if there are any friendly faces. Obviously, it’s on the grid, which is quite unique; not everybody gets to go on there any time on race weekend.”
Cromwell says she’s happy to hear of the changes to Glamour on the Grid.
“I prefer smaller events if I’m honest,” Cromwell says. “Sometimes when it’s too big it sometimes feels a bit overwhelming. So to make it more intimate it gives you more chance to actually meet other people and mingle a bit more.”
Bec Judd and her husband, former Carlton legend Chris Judd, made the cut, and while influencer Rozalia Russian is not attending, it’s not because she wasn’t invited – instead she has prioritised an event for her children.
Some influencers will always be welcome at a Melbourne event.
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