Formula One has the kind of glitz and glamour that most other sports can only dream of, with pretty faces a fixture of the paddock. Here's the WAGS (wives and girlfriends) grid for 2009:

McLAREN

Lewis Hamilton (GBR)

WAG factor: The defending world champion dates pop star Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls who was at trackside in Brazil for Hamilton's heart-stopping triumph in 2008.

"I almost broke down, it was so thrilling. I thank God," she gushed. The pair met at the MTV Europe Awards in Munich in 2007. At 30, Scherzinger is seven years older than the driver.

Hamilton previously dated Miss Grenada beauty queen Vivia Burkhardt.

Hawaiian-born Scherzinger has a Filipino father and Hawaiian/Russian mother.

Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)

WAG factor: Kovalainen has a British girlfriend Catherine Hyde who studies sports psychology. The couple are reportedly planning a wedding in 2010.

FERRARI

Felipe Massa (BRA)

WAG factor: Massa married Anna Rafaela Bassi in November 2007 and the two consoled each other when he lost the 2008 title by just one point to Hamilton.

"My wife is always helping me but after the last race in Brazil she was more depressed than me," said Massa who met his wife-to-be during his early struggles as a driver.

"If I hadn't been fired from Sauber at the end of my first season in 2002 maybe I would not even have met her. Who knows? I was back home in Brazil and I went to a friend's house at the beach. This guy was going out with a girl and she was a friend of Rafaela."

Kimi Raikkonen (FIN)

WAG factor: Married former Miss Scandinavia, and ex-model, Jenni Dahlman in 2004 and they have homes in Helsinki and Zurich. She is a keen horsewoman and owns four horses, three of which were reportedly bought for her by Raikkonen.

BMW SAUBER

Robert Kubica (POL)

WAG factor: Keeps private life... private. In October, 2008, was reported by Polish press to have become engaged to girlfriend Edyta Witas.

Nick Heidfeld (GER)

WAG factor: Heidfeld lives in Switzerland with his girlfriend Patricia Papen and daughter Juni (four) and son Joda (two).

RENAULT

Fernando Alonso (ESP)

WAG factor: Girlfriend Raquel del Rosario is a Spanish pop singer with El Sueno de Morfeo (Morpheus's dream).

Nelson Piquet (BRA)

WAG factor: Was dating part-time model Gabriela Constantino, an airline heiress.

TOYOTA

Jarno Trulli (ITA)

WAG factor: F1 veteran Trulli is married to Barbara and they have two children - Marco and Enzo. Family live in St Moritz, Switzerland.

Timo Glock (GER)

WAG factor: Last summer, girlfriend Isabell Reis, an economics student from Saarbrucken, watched in horror as Glock suffered a high-speed crash at German GP. Reis has also appeared on TV reality show 'Germany's next top model'.

TORO ROSSO

Sebastien Bourdais (FRA)

WAG factor: Four-time Champ Car winner in the USA, returned to Europe last year and lives in Switzerland with wife Claire and daughter, Emma.

Sebastien Buemi (SUI)

WAG factor: Unknown. Buemi, who lives in Bahrain, is just 20 and the only new face in Formula One on the 2009 grid. His cousin Natacha Gachnang was the first female driver to sign up for the new FIA Formula Two Championship.

RED BULL

Mark Webber (AUS)

WAG factor: Webber lives in Aylesbury, England with his girlfriend/manager Ann Neal. "She has been an inspiration to me," said the Australian of his partner who is 13 years his senior. "I wouldn't be where I am today without her." They met in 1995.

Sebastian Vettel (GER)

WAG factor: Girlfriend for almost three years is Hanna Prater. Vettel, the youngest winner of a Formula One race, is a fan of classic English comedy, a taste encouraged by Prater's half-English mother.

WILLIAMS

Nico Rosberg (GER)

WAG factor: Interior design student Vivian Sibold has been with Rosberg for five years. "I don't see myself as a sex symbol or think about it too much," said Rosberg, who many liken to Leonardo Di Caprio.

Kazuki Nakajima (JPN)

WAG factor: Always refers to his girlfriend in blogs but never by name. He missed flight to Paris from London last year while he was talking to her on the phone.

BRAWN GP

Jenson Button (GBR)

WAG factor: Last year Button split with longtime girlfriend Florence Brudenell-Bruce. "Flee (her nickname) is gorgeous but Jenson couldn't be tamed," a 'friend' told a British tabloid. Before Brudenell-Bruce, Button had a two-year relationship with 2003 Fame Academy singer Louise Griffiths. Now believed to be dating model Jessica Michibata who, according to The Sun newspaper, speaks fluent English, has a Japanese mother and a half-Spanish, half-Italian father.

Rubens Barrichello (BRA)

WAG factor: Barrichello married Silvana in 1997 and they have two sons Eduardo and Fernando. "She has helped me cope with all the positive and negative aspects of being a F1 racing driver, and I am very grateful to God for her existence," he says.

FORCE INDIA

Adrian Sutil (GER)

WAG factor: Sutil said in August last year that he only has eyes for the road. "Is it easier to get girls if you race in F1? The simple answer is 'yes'. But I don't have a girlfriend at the moment. I want to concentrate completely on my job, because I'm at a phase of my career when a relationship, particularly at the beginning, would be too distracting."

Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA)

WAG factor: Married to Luna, a former Italian showgirl, and they have two children, Carlotta and Christopher.

AFP

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