No place for racism

Lewis Hamilton, who finished runner-up in last year's championship, has become a hate figure in Spain because of his rivalry with former McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso who now drives for Renault. A number of papers report that the McLaren driver was booed and insulted whenever he made his way from the team motorhome and into the pits on Saturday, during testing at the Spanish Grand Prix circuit in Barcelona. The correspondent from sports daily Marca said that shouts of "puto negro" (bloody/f****** black) and "negro de mierda" (black s***) were clearly heard and he said that large sections of the crowd were involved.

One wonders what the international reaction would be to UK fans yelling racist abuse at a young, talented, black driver. I very much doubt that it would brushed under the carpet as seems to have happened here.