Hugh Grant enjoys being on 'sexiest film star' lists, but is 'embarrassed' by his obsession with cars and thinks it stems from his midlife crisis.

Hugh Grant. Pic/AFP

"I have a new obsession with cars. It's almost too embarrassing to talk about. Motor racing. I go on motor racing trips. I get taught how to drive and now go to bed and read my iPad all about how crankshafts work or disc brakes. It's weird. I don't know where it's come from. It's a midlife crisis.

That's exactly what's happening to me," contactmusic.com quoted him as saying. The 51-year-old actor became a father for the first time last September when actress Tinglan Hong gave birth to his daughter Jessica.