Anti-Hamilton racist website taken down
The development followed a media storm, after it emerged that Spanish fans left obscene messages about the McLaren driver's ethnicity on the site, which invited users to leave virtual nails and hazards in Hamilton's path on a mockup of the Interlagos circuit.
Britain's foreign secretary was urged by government politicians Keith Vaz and Andy Burnham to make a formal protest about the affair to the Spanish government.
McLaren team boss Ron Dennis commented from Brazil: "Really it's not for us to take action against these people; in some instances it's government and in some instances it's organizations that are designed specifically to address these issues in this world."
The site was run by the Spanish branch of the New York-based global advertising agency TWBA.
"This is not what we condone as a company," spokesman Jeremy Miller told The Guardian, promising to take "appropriate action" once it had made further enquiries.
Fernando Alonso, F1's only Spanish driver, also condemned the racism of the website's users, who have been referred to as his fans.
"If it's true, obviously this is not possible (acceptable)," he told reporters at Interlagos.
"In 2008 we cannot have these kind of people in our world."