Final news briefs from Melbourne

Before finishing the thrilling Australian grand prix in second place, Renault’s Robert Kubica had pleaded with a friend not to throw away a EUR100 bet on a podium finish for the Pole. "I may have to give him the money!" Kubica laughed.

After trying a 2008 McLaren at Albert Park last week for a sponsor stunt, V8 Supercar driver Jamie Whincup is now eyeing a proper test in Europe. "If it was totally my call, I’d give him an opportunity, for sure," said test team manager Indy Lall.

A minor spat has broken out in Australia, after the UK-domiciled Australian Mark Webber hit out at Melbourne’s "nanny state" in terms of parking and speeding fines. "It pisses me off coming back here, to be honest," said the Red Bull driver. Victoria police’s deputy commissioner Ken Lay hit back at the "insensitive" Webber, insisting he "needs to take a bit of responsibility for the road safety message".

Attendance at Albert Park last weekend was the highest since 2005, with 305,000 filing through the gates over the entire four-day event.

The damage bill for Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso after the Australian GP on Sunday topped EUR150,000, his boss Franz Tost told Swiss newspaper Blick. Like Nico Hulkenberg, Buemi was taken out by Kamui Kobayashi, whose Sauber spectacularly lost control on the first lap after a third front wing problem for the weekend.