Now that's not unusual for an English guy in France. Remember on your annual Le Mans pilgrimage to France the enthusiasm les flics have for nickingles rosbifs.

Lewis Hamilton has been reported as having his driving licence suspended for a month after being caught speeding on a French motorway.

Apparently Lewis was courteous when stopped at the wheel of a Mercedes CLK when he was clocked at 196 km/h (121mph) near the northern town of Laon on Sunday afternoon.

The speed limit on French motorways is 130 km/h (80mph) in dry weather and 110km/h (68mph) in wet conditions.

Police stopped him on the A26 motorway, which runs from Calais to Reims, detained the car and fined him 600 euros (429 pounds).

Naturally this will be the cue for lots of morons quoting "Hamilton thought he was on the racetrack rather than the motorway." - *yawn*

Lewis is in good company - cast your mind back to when Jenson was done a number years ago in a BMW oil burner for 140 or something - BMW got some PR mileage out of it for showing the performance of the diesel.

Good for Mercedes to show that the CLK does actually get driven by guys under 50!