A close shave for Jenson

Posted on 22/01/2010

It was a clean-shaven Jenson Button who faced the media on his 30th birthday, and that in itself provoked a few questions.

"I thought I’d have a trim because I have a younger team-mate now,” he told the Daily Express. “I need to look younger."

By the time it was the Daily Telegraph’s turn to have a few moments of Button’s time, the story had changed, and he credited/blamed girlfriend Jessica Michibata.

Lewis and Doll driven apart

Posted on 22/01/2010

In happier times ... a rather pleased-with-himself Lewis Hamilton gives Nicole Scherzinger and Beyonce Knowles a tour of the McLaren Mercedes garage at last September's Singapore Grand Prix © Getty Images

After months of speculation all was not well, Lewis Hamilton and Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger announced they have decided to split. In a joint statement, they said: "The two of them have decided to focus fully on their careers and will remain close friends."

The pair began dating after meeting at the MTV Europe Awards in Munich in November 2007. But last autumn rumours started the relationship was in trouble – dismissed by Hamilton at the time as “bullshit” – with the Mirror quoting a so-called friend as saying: “‘He’s young, they spend an awful lot of time apart and he’s just not ready to leave his youth behind for a lifetime with Nicole.”

Another problem was that Hamilton’s base is now in Switzerland while Scherzinger lives in Los Angeles.

In a poll last summer, Scherzinger was voted the Hottest F1 Girlfriend. That mantle now passes to Raquel del Rosario, the wife (she's still eligible for the contest we are assured) of Fernando Alonso. Jessica Michibata, the girlfriend of Hamilton’s new team-mate Jenson Button, now moves into the No. 2 slot.

Jessice Michibata ... now moves into the No. 2 slot © Getty Images