Racer guilty of “stirring Daddy’s porridge”

A well-informed Grid Crasher spy tells us a sordid tale from a few years a go:

“During the race weekend, [xxxx] and his dad picked up a pair of prostitutes and took them to a hotel room.

They proceeded to take care of business, and swapped girls half way through.”

Five stats from the opening weekend in Melbourne

1. In fifteen of the last nineteen seasons - including each of the last three - the winner of the opening race of the season has gone on to win the Drivers Championship. Jenson Button is now the favourite and the best price available on him is 3/1 with Boylesports.

2. The winning team at the first Grand Prix of the season have won the Constructors Championship in seven of the last nine years. Brawn GP are still available at 11/5 with Boylesports but Ferrari, who broke this trend last season to triumph, are still favourites. The best price available on the Scuderia is 11/8 with Ladbrokes.

That’s some serious helmet hair

Swiss F3 star Natacha Gachnang is the first female driver to sign up for the new FIA Formula Two Championship. Don’t be surprised if one day she makes it all the way to F1. The 21 year-old certainly has the genes to succeed in motorsport: she is the cousin of Red Bull test driver Sebastien Buemi, who looks set to win a 2009 race seat for Toro Rosso.

The new F2 category will use a new car based on a chassis built by Williams and an engine built by Audi.

Lewis Hamilton’s WAG pouts for German mag

Nicole Scherzinger stars in the January issue of Maxim Germany, and Gridcrasher has tracked down the best photos from her cover shoot. Because we care about you in that way.

More photos after the jumpy thing…

Lewis honoured by Europe’s premier sports newspaper

After missing out on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Lewis Hamilton can take comfort in the news that L’Equipe has voted him one of their top five sportsmen of the year.

Hamilton came fifth in the voting, behind sprinter Usain Bolt (who was voted the Champion of Champions), swimmer Michael Phelps, tennis star Rafael Nadal and MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi.

Does this mean the French love Lewis more than us Brits? Shurely shome mishtake.

Scuderia chief forsees wage wars

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali believes drivers should not be immune from F1’s cost cuts. 

In an interview with Autosprint, Domenicali said: “I think in the following months there will be a major revolution, also with the drivers, as far as retainers are concerned.

“Let’s be clear: at a moment when the teams, whether big or small, must reduce costs in a significant way, one could feel like saying you need an ace (driver) to make the difference.

“However, I feel in the current climate the big teams won’t have the ability any more to think of offering certain amounts of money that some drivers get. So discussions can be held on this issue.”

F1 world champ honoured with place in wax museum

Lewis Hamilton is the latest star to be turned into a waxwork by Madame Tussauds. This week, the F1 world champion underwent 300 measurements in view of becoming part of the famous museum’s “Sports Zone” in 2009.

Many digital photos of Lewis wearing his McLaren racing overalls were also taken for reference, and other details, such as the colour of his eyes, were noted.

Hamilton’s wax double will reportedly cost £150,000, although it’s too early to say if the new model will be injected with as much personality as the original.

[F1 Fanatic]

Swiss rookie talks talk, walks walk

Sebastien Buemi may come across as a cocky sod (he nominated Jenson Button as his preferred team-mate at Toro Rosso, even though he has yet to secure a seat with the team), but he clearly knows how to drive, so we’ll let him off.

The Swiss youngster continued to impress in testing at Jerez, setting the pace for the fifth day in a row. He was quickest around the Spanish circuit last week on each of the three days when he tested for a seat at Toro Rosso. And so far this week, in his day job as Red Bull’s test driver, Buemi has again proved untouchable (not all the teams were testing, admittedly).

“It’s been a very good test so far, we’ve been improving with every lap, which is really good for next season and I’m happy,” he said.

“We’re learning more about the slick tyres too, which is important. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and trying to improve myself more.”

Sebastian Vettel made it a 1-2 for Red Bull on Tuesday as he finished just under two tenths behind Buemi. The two Sebs were followed by the BMW Sauber pair of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, with Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima in fifth.