IN A sport where money is in short supply, sex, apparently, is still available in the truckloads.

I'm talking about Formula One of course, and to illustrate this point, one needs to look no further than yesterday's press launch by Singtel for its sponsorship activities leading up to September's night race.

So what if the likes of ING, RBS and Credit Suisse are running away from the sport faster than Lewis Hamilton with his pants on fire? So what if there is there less money everywhere, even for Bernie Ecclestone's ex-wife?

We will give you more - grid girls, that is.

The Singtel Grid Girls pose for a photograph at a press briefing for SingTel's sponsorship activation programme for the 2009 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix.
PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

That's right. An all-new bevy of local stunners all set to steam up your television screens starting tonight, vying for the glorious opportunity of escorting Fernando Alonso and company to their places on the starting grid in Singapore.

Feminists and moralists, time to start tearing your hair out, and write to my colleagues at ST Forum.

Guys, time to get your blood pressure checked.

At least, that's what I thought, when I met the five original grid girls who turned up at One Fullerton yesterday to grace the event.

I confess, I had never met the likes of Alexandra Hui and Fadilah Amir Hamzah up close until yesterday, having confined most of my F1 duties last year to more noble pursuits like finding out whether wind-tunnel testing is directly responsible for Nico Rosberg's immaculate blond mane.

Nothing could have prepared me for the startling truth - the girls aren't just bimbos in stockings. Really.

Like everyone else, I sniggered at the mere mention of the words 'grid' and 'girls' in the same sentence. Even at the event itself, there were sneering whispers from the some of the invited guests.

"They're just here to pose," said a fellow scribe. "I can't believe they're the best we've got," said another.

I agreed - until I mustered up enough courage (with the help of two Diet Cokes) to speak to some of them.

Half an hour later, after an expansive discussion ranging from the state of the local media industry to the finer points of McLaren's pre-season testing, I realised I was quite wrong about these red-clad lasses.

They speak well, they're approachable and, contrary to popular belief, their best assets are actually between their eyes.

Of course, it helps that they can fill out body-hugging dresses with alarming precision. But honestly, good looks can only get you so far right? (A certain local female sports presenter, bless her soul, is a rare exception to this rule.)

In a world where the F1 doom merchants are predicting the death of anything from Hamilton's title hopes to the sport itself, these women are a breath of fresh, optimistic air.

So who cares if the financial downturn is turning Formula One to dust?

Singapore's very own grid girls can help to spin gold from the ashes - if you will just give them a chance to talk.