Well known phrases like 'I don't believe it' or 'You cannot be serious' have been applied to the decision of bosses at Formula One to ban grid girls.

They say, rather grandly, that the promo girls 'Do not resonate with our brand values'. What do they mean by that? Old boss Bernie Ecclestone fumed: "The drivers like them, the audience likes them and no one cares. These girls are part of the show, part of the spectacle."

Dorna have said they have no intention of following F1 owners Liberty as far as MotoGP and WorldSBK are concerned and the idea was scornfully dismissed by Stuart Higgs, boss of BSB, who said: "If we were to follow this we would have no wives or girlfriends on the grid, who would hold the umbrellas?"

MotoGP and WorldSBK might face the same problem and someone close to Dorna suggested: "Someone should ask Liberty if is their intention to also ban cheerleaders from their USA sports?"  This was answered by a supporter of the move on BBC Breakfast who said that cheerleaders were different because they a are 'athletes.'

However, Silverstone boss Stuart Pringle also came out in favour of the ban in a BBC radio interview. Sounds like MotoGP and BSB will have more than tarmac to talk about when they next visit Northamptonshire...