Racism no joke, says Hamilton

Only four days after he became the youngest-ever Formula One world champion – and the first black driver to wear the crown – Lewis Hamilton has disagreed publicly with the commercial rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone after the latter yesterday dismissed talk of racism in the sport and said recent controversies were "a joke".

In February a group of Spaniards attired in racially provocative dress heckled Hamilton during a test in Barcelona. More recently, a Spanish website, which has since been closed down, offered an animation in which fans could place a virtual tack on the track to puncture Hamilton's tyres. The site also contained hundreds of messages of racial abuse. Hamilton was also booed at times at Interlagos, prior to clinching his title last Sunday.

Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, Ecclestone said that things had been blown out of proportion. "It's all nonsense. In Spain people supported Fernando Alonso and in Brazil they supported Felipe Massa," the 78-year-old said. "I don't think it has anything to do with racism. There were a few people in Spain... and that was probably taken at the beginning as a joke rather than anything abusive.

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"People sort of look and read things into things that are not there. All of those things are all a bit of a joke. People are entitled to support who they want to support. When was he insulted? Do you remember the Ferrari guys that wore the red wigs when they went? People are [just] expressing themselves."

Hamilton, however, who was appearing at a promotional function yesterday as part of his new responsibilities to McLaren team sponsor Vodafone, said that he saw things differently.

"I don't particularly look at it as a joke," he said. "It's something that's happened but it's in the past and you've got to look forward. What's most important for me is that I know I have a lot of support, especially from my UK fans.

"I go to all these countries and I do see my fellow-countrymen holding up the flag and it makes me very proud to see that. All the other stuff, you can put it behind you and forget about it."

Angered by the incident in Barcelona in February in which a group of fans dressed in black wigs and blacked up their faces before hurling racial abuse at the man who used to be Alonso's team-mate when he drove for McLaren in 2007, the motorsport governing body, the FIA, reacted quickly and launched a "Racing against Racism" campaign to unite the sport against such abuse.

"The FIA was appalled by the scenes of racist abuse targeted at Lewis Hamilton," a spokesman said. "Such behaviour runs counter to the fundamental principles of equality enshrined in the FIA's statutes. Formula One is a global, multi-cultural sport and has never encountered such scenes before and will not tolerate them in future.

"International motor sport can reach a huge global audience to send out positive messages of racial and sporting equality. We will be encouraging all those involved in motor sport to support our new campaign, from recent world champions to the next generation of potential champions at the grass roots of our sport."

The FIA threatened severe financial penalties against the circuit owners at Catalunya and Valencia, the venues for Spain's two grands prix, and even hinted that either race could be removed from the calendar in future years should incidents of racial harassment be repeated.

Hamilton's father Anthony told reporters this week that the racial taunts and abuse had made him doubt whether his 23 year-old son should be competing in the sport.