THE VICIOUS abuse of Lewis Hamilton by Spanish F1 supporters began last season, his father has told the sport’s governing body. Pictures of Spanish fans, including a group with blacked-up faces and wigs, jeering and taunting the British driver during testing in Barcelona last weekend caused revulsion within the sport and beyond, and led some to call for the cancellation of the two grands prix scheduled to be staged in Spain during the 2008 season.

Now Hamilton’s father Anthony has told the sport’s governing body, the FIA, that his son was abused by Spanish supporters who travelled to support Hamilton’s McLaren Mer-cedes teammate Fernando Alonso at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai last October. Many Alonso fans believe McLaren’s insistence on supporting both drivers equally cost the Spaniard a third consecutive world championship, and team principal Ron Dennis was also the subject of abusive banners at a number of races, most obviously in Turkey.

In his first interview since the pictures from Barcelona were seen around the world, FIA president Max Mosley said Spain’s motorsport authorities had been “left under no illusion” about the consequences if there were to be any repeat of what happened in Barcelona.

“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,” said Mosley. “If they went to Australia and did something like that, they could get arrested and we would know their names, and passport numbers, and they wouldn’t get into another country. We will do everything we can to stamp this out, we will do whatever it takes. 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 grand prix.”

However, Mosley insisted it would have been an overreaction to cancel the race. “We have a very wide discretion, but we have to be responsible and measured,” he 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.”

Mosley was shocked that motorsport should be affected. “It is against the ethos of the sport. One of the things that most attracted me to motorsport was that nobody cared about your background, race, gender or religion; the only thing that mattered was how quick you were. In that respect, it has always brought competitors and supporters from different countries together without a hint of trouble.”

The FIA plans to use the Spanish Grand Prix, on April 27, to launch a major antiracism educational campaign, working with experienced groups including football’s “Kick It Out” and “Football against Racism in Europe” projects. The FIA can also expect support from the president of Spain’s Motorsport Federation, Car-los Gracia, who has issued a statement emphasising the federation’s “support and solidarity” for and with Hamilton and McLaren.

Hamilton made it clear he believes the episode to have been the work of a tiny minority, and that most Spanish fans have always treated him warmly, although he has also been quoted as saying Alonso showed him “how not to behave as an F1 driver”.