Trouble In MotorSport

Spain has been threatened with the loss of one of its two Grand Prix Races following the racist abuse suffered by Lewis Hamilton during his recent practice at a Barcelona race track.

The Times newspaper reported that the motor sport’s governing body The FIA was:

“surprised and disappointed at the abuse handed out to the British racing driver. An act of this kind is a clear breach of the principles enshrined in the FIA statutes, and any repetition will result in sanctions,”

Although Hamilton is said to be deeply saddened by the incident, he remained diplomatic about Spain saying in The Times newspaper:

"I am in love with this country, and especially the city of Barcelona and this circuit, which is one of my three favorites. The people in Spain have always been very warm with me, and even though I imagined what might happen it has not been pleasant."

Although there has not yet been a decision on the fate of the Spanish Grand Prix (scheduled to take place on the 27th of April at the Montmelo Venue) I think it is important the FIA take a hard line. It is not the first time small minorities in Spain have been accused of inciting racial hatred; the national football team was fined by FIFA in 2004 after Spanish fans made monkey noises at black players in the England team.

It is imperative that what happened in 2004 to the English national team, and what happened to Lewis Hamilton two weeks ago is stamped out of sport. If this means that Spain is no longer allowed to hold major sporting events such as the Grand Prix until the problem is rectified,
then so be it.

However perceptions in the British Media that Spain suffers from a serious problem with racism, may not be entirely true. Estrella Rodríguez, the Government official charged with dealing with the issue said in The Times.

“What happened in Barcelona is an isolated incident that cannot be tolerated."

Hopefully this is the case, and such incidents will not happen in the future.