Hamilton abuse not one-off, father says

(GMM) The racial abuse of McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton was not a one-off, his father and manager has told the president of F1's governing body.

Following the controversial events of the recent Barcelona test, Max Mosley, FIA president, revealed that Anthony Hamilton told him that his 23-year-old son was also taunted by Spanish supporters at the Chinese grand prix last year.

"Anthony Hamilton told me that there were some people in China who were also appallingly abusive; not Chinese fans, but people who had travelled from Spain," Mosley said in an interview with the London newspaper The Times.

Mosley said he is determined to stamp out racism in formula one.

"If, as appears to be the case, only a very small number of people are involved, it ought to be possible to stop it immediately. If it isn't, then we have sanctions and we could pull the (Spanish) grand prix," he added.

He insists, however, that immediately scrapping the Barcelona race, scheduled for April 27 this year, would have been an overreaction.

"We have a very wide discretion, but we have to be responsible and measured," the Briton said.

"Not to give the Spanish authorities the opportunity to show they can deal with it and ensure there is no recurrence would have been over the top. But it is necessary to make it clear it will not be tolerated, and we have done that."