Grapevine: More News from the Paddock - German GP

Academy Boyfriend

Jenson Button had an unusual experience of being just the "other half" in his relationship with girlfriend Louise Griffiths before this weekend's German Grand Prix when he visited the Fame Academy house to cheer her on in her audition for the BBC talent show.

Singer Louise modestly said "my father is a taxi driver and my boyfriend Jenson is a racing driver" when asked about her family before singing her song and Button, speaking at Hockenheim on Thursday, said: "I had a huge big badge that said 'Louise's boyfriend'. I thought it was fantastic. It had my name in little letters underneath. They took it away from me. I was very upset. I have never seen her sing properly with a microphone in front of people, so it was pretty emotional. I think she will be great."

Button was delighted when Louise was the first to be voted into the house, where she will stay almost until Christmas unless she is voted out. But he does not know how much he will get to speak to her after she enters the house on Saturday night and added: "I can't speak to her at all now and I don't know what the plan is. When she gets in I don't know what happens - I'll just watch her on TV I guess. It's weird."

Swiss Day

Sauber celebrated in style on Friday when they pulled out all their Swiss flags for National Swiss Confederation day. The team, which are based in Switzerland and have a Swiss founder, Peter Sauber, served traditional food throughout the day in their motorhome, which was decorated with Swiss national flags. But the highlight of their day was the arrival of two traditional Swiss alphorn players in the pitlane 45 minutes before the qualifying session - but they were not able to celebrate much on the track with German drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Nick Heidfeld finishing 13th and 14th respectively.

High Pressure Performance

Formula One drivers really have to earn their keep these days but even so, Toyota's decision to make Frenchman Olivier Panis hoover their motorhome on Saturday evening seemed a bit bizarre. But his chore was not part of a new cleaning rota at the Germany-based Japanese team - it was simply that their sponsor, Karcher, required Panis to pose with a "high pressure cleaning device" for a photoshoot.