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NATHALIE JANSEN

The girls behind the girls Glamorous grid girls have become as synonymous with F1 as the cars themselves. Nathalie Jansen, founder of the casting agency to Formula One Matching Models, reveals all P h otog ra p hy A l a sta i r P u l l e n a n d Matc h i n g Mod e l s

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verywhere you look on race days you will find the pit lane lined with beautiful models. Choosing the right models to assist on the grid lies in the hands of myself and colleagues Rachael Howard (who is also Miss UK) and Liza Junele, who help me behind the scenes at grand prix events. The agency started by chance in 1997. I was working as a diamond dealer in London and went to an exhibition showcasing my jewellery. The hostess for the event didn’t show up so I pulled a few friends together who happened to be models and with their help the evening turned out to be a great success. Following on from that I was asked to help at another event, and so my business was born. It was not something I had ever planned or thought about doing, but the more I researched the idea the more I was excited by the challenge. Now we have offices based in Switzerland and London, and 15 years on I can say it has been an incredibly exciting journey. I have always enjoyed racing and Formula One for the reasons that most people love the sport – the cars, the glamour and the excitement. I started working with Total who were an F1 sponsor and their owners, and then we just evolved and moved onwards from there. Once you are in the sport it is addictive. As a sport there is nothing like F1. I never get bored with it, and it is all the more enjoyable when you have friends in the sport too. From a business perspective it is impressive to witness the evolution and expansion of the sport as it continues to grow to even more countries. It provides a great business platform for

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Nathalie Jansen (centre) with her colleagues Liza Junele (left) and Rachael Howard

Celebrity socialite Paris Hilton fits in with girls on the grid

the teams and the sponsors and for companies like mine to work, and it keeps on going from strength to strength.

BIG BUSINESS

F1 is a global sport and you never know where or when you might do business. I once stopped for a coffee at The Manderin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge and started talking with an Indian businessman at the bar. When I explained to him that I owned an employment agency staffing models for Formula One he told me that he “owned Formula One in India”. Assuming that he was joking, I left him my business card not really expecting to hear from him again. The next day I checked the internet and indeed Mr Sameer Gaur from Jaypee Group had constructed the F1 racetrack and brought Formula One to India – as it turns out he was in London to visit Mr Ecclestone for a meeting.

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I received a request the following week from him to bring a group of 20 models to India to not only assist at the track with the sales of tickets, but also to help organise the Lady Gaga concert at the grand prix after party. She really is a mega star and watching her perform live was amazing. There are so many memorable experiences from being involved in F1, but meeting her has to be up there with the best. However, that event was not without its drama. After flying 20 models and a team of five coordinators to India to work alongside Arjun Rampal (one of the best known Bollywood actors in India), we had 400 people crammed into a VIP area designed for 50 people. It was a basketball hall converted into a concert hall, so we were all nervous about it collapsing. The event itself was fine in the end, but afterward the models were the last to leave and with the location being 30 minutes away from the

“IT IS IMPRESSIVE TO WITNESS THE EXPANSION OF THE SPORT TO MORE COUNTRIES”

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Liza Junele works in front of the camera as well as behind the scenes

hotel and no taxis left, we were stuck in what is a pretty dangerous area of India to be at night as woman. Then, on the side of the road stood Fernando Alonso, his manager and also Rubens Barichello. It was 4am on a Sunday, but we all decided to walk back to the hotel together, singing Spanish songs while the sun was coming up in the streets of India. It was a pretty special moment for all of us.

JET-SETTING

After another similar event, one of the team owners was so happy with our services working at the track for him that we were approached to come to his 30-bedroom, £15 million residence in London and organise a casting to find him a PA. We had another casting in our Kings Road office that day

to select a group of grid girls for the Force India team, so we sent all of the models over after the casting to his absolutely mind-blowing residential apartment in the centre of London. At the end the team owner personally interviewed a group of blonde models to work as personal flight attendants on one of his private 767 jets. The models have all relocated to his country and are still working for him now. Over the years we have worked with a number of teams from Force India, F1 Renault and Marussia to Pirelli the tyre manufacturers. Pirelli are particularly fun to work with as they are Italians, and like all good Italians, they love food. Whenever we go to visit them we are always offered too much. One of the great things about the sport is that it is so intimate you get to know the people and

“we sang spanish songs with alonso and barichello; it was a pretty special moment”

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“we have enjoyed working with bruno senna and paul di resta. senna is one of our favourite drivers” drivers you work with well, especially the ones that like to go out after race weekend. We have enjoyed working with the likes of Bruno Senna, Paul Di Resta and Jules Bianchi in recent years, and all the team owners are so kind, it is like one big family.

SELECT FEW

We were once in Shanghai and Sony Production were filming our team of models who were being selected as grid girls, so we asked the then Lotus Renault team if they could form a judging panel to help with the casting. Bruno Senna kindly agreed to be part of the panel. While Bruno was discussing the contestants performing he forgot that his microphone was on and unbeknown to him all the film crew and myself could hear all of his comments. We cherish this tape in our office and always play it when we want to have a good laugh – I know I can say that because

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Cap One and

Grid girls on film

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Rowan Atkinson with Jansen’s Matching Models

“the standout venue has to be monaco. the models work at all the parties and on different yachts” Senna is a good friend and he won’t mind me saying that. He has become one of our favourite drivers ever since.

BEAUTIFUL HAPPY PEOPLE

There are so many beautiful cities on the F1 calendar it is hard to choose my favourite. I like India because we have so many clients there and I know most people at the track and in hospitality, so going there is like coming home. That aside, the standout venue has to be Monaco. The layout of the circuit in the city centre lends itself to a special atmosphere. Our models work at all the parties and we have hostesses working on different yachts of F1 sponsors in the harbour. All in all it is normally a hectic weekend but always fun and it’s a great environment in which to catch up with clients. I think I have to be one of the luckiest people out there, working with happy people in beautiful surroundings worldwide.

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