formula-magazine

nathalie jansen 

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 

Photography Alastair Pullen and Matching Models 

Everywhere 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 

 

44 FORMULA FORMULA 45


Celebrity socialite 

Paris Hilton fits in with 

girls on the grid 

Nathalie Jansen (centre) with 

her colleagues Liza Junele 

(left) and Rachael Howard 

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. 

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” 

 



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” 

 

FORMULA 49


“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 

Grid girls on film 

 

Cap 

One 

and 



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. 

Caption here 

cap tion please 

here caption he 

FORMULA 53

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