Hamilton suffered racism in Spain
Formula One chiefs have launched an anti-racism campaign in the wake of abuse suffered by Lewis Hamilton in Spain.
The ‘Everyrace’ campaign was unveiled at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona ahead of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
McLaren driver Hamilton says he has put the racist taunting he suffered earlier in the year behind him, and hopes to close a five-point on championship leader Kimi Raikkonen this weekend.
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said at the launch of the new campaign: ‘The sport is about a driver's ability and this will never have anything to do with their race or skin colour.’
Under-fire FIA president Max Mosley was not in Barcelona to endorse the plan, but said in a statement: ‘One thing that most attracted me to motor sport was that nobody cared about your background, race, gender or religion; all that mattered was how quick you were.’
Despite the racist abuse and the fact some Spanish fans still hold a grudge against Hamilton after his battle with Spaniard Fernando Alonso last season, the British driver said he was looking forward to the weekend’s race.
‘The Circuit de Catalunya is a great track, there are so many enthusiastic fans which makes for a great atmosphere,’ he said.
After winning the opening race in Australia Hamilton has struggled to find his form this season.
He said he had learnt from his 13th place in Bahrain.
‘I realised that when things go wrong at the beginning of the race I need to use damage limitation,’ he added.
‘I fell back to 10th and then tried to regain my positions early on, and that was a big mistake.
‘I will also make sure what happened at the beginning of the race [when he stalled on the grid] never happens again.’
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)