THIS is the Spanish Formula One fan who blacked his face to lead the abuse against Lewis Hamilton, the British driver. But Antonio Calderon Martinez insists he is not a racist.

The labourer and six friends were seen dressed in dark, curly wigs, with blacked-up faces and wearing T-shirts bearing the words “Hamilton’s family” at the Montmelo circuit near Barcelona last weekend.

Some fans shouted abuse at the British F1 driver, causing Gerry Sutcliffe, the sports minister, to demand answers from his Spanish counterpart. Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, launched an investigation and could ban Spain from holding grands prix in Barcelona and Valencia.

Speaking from his home in Girona, northeast Spain, this weekend, Calderon, 36, said: “I am no racist. I work with a lot of immigrants. It was a piece of fun. I am angry British people have misunderstood this. I do not want any more attention in case there are reprisals from immigrants here in Spain.”

Calderon, a fan of Fernando Alonso, the Spanish driver who has twice won the world championship, rang a radio station to protest that his group of four men and three women had been misrepresented. He said: “We wanted to give a touch of humour to Montmelo and have a laugh at the father of [Lewis] Hamilton.”

But Professor Javier Duran, of the Observatory Against Racism, said: “Xenophobia in sport is grave . . . We should not think of the events at Montmelo as normal as this is very dangerous.”