F1 must take a stand against racism now (update 2)
Yesterday I wrote that “I haven’t seen any evidence of a racial motivation” in the attacks Lewis Hamilton has been subjected to in Spain this week.
Today damning evidence of that fact has come in from a number of sources, the worst being of four spectators at the track with blacked-up faces and gorilla masks wearing T-shirts bearing the phrase “Hamilton’s family”.
It is now indisputably clear that Hamilton’s skin colour is a point of objection for a despicable minority.
The time has come for everyone involved in Formula 1, be they fans, drivers, team personnel or the sports’ governing body, to take firm action against this group and ensure they are kept out of F1 races, tests and other events.
Other sports have spent years trying to purge the racist element from their grandstands. There has to be an immediate reaction against this alarming new development.
It goes without saying that the sports’ governing body must show it is taking this seriously. And I would suggest this a good moment for Fernando Alonso to step forward and remind some of his countrymen that professional rivalry is one thing, but racism is indefensible.
Tomorrow every British newspaper and many international ones will carry pictures of the kinds of vile behaviour that many of us thought only happened at football matches. Questions will be asked about why the Circuit de Catalunya owners did not throw these people out of the venue.
A swift denunciation and strong action from the sport must follow. Formula 1 cannot allow itself to be tinged by accusations of racism.
Update at 11:57, 4/2/08 - Britain’s biggest selling newspaper put the story on their front page today. Meanwhile the FIA has asked Spain motor racing body, the Real Federacion Espanola de Automovilismo (RFEA), to submit an explanation of how they plan to prevent a repeat.
They will have to work quickly as several teams including McLaren are testing in Jerez from Tuesday next week. The two races to be held in Spain this year in Barcelona and Valencia may be under threat.
Update at 15:12, 4/2/08 - The RFEA have condemned the spectators, saying:
The Federation wants to show its absolute repulse at these incomprehensible events, as well as showing its support to the McLaren team and especially to their driver Lewis Hamilton. Car racing is a sport where events that divert from cordiality between fans and drivers and teams will not be allowed. These kind of madmen who confuse sporting rivalry with violence must know that the Federation will have no tolerance with them.
The RFEA wants to make clear that the protagonists of this event were a very small group that doesn’t represent the thousands of people who enjoy this sport in a fun and cordial way. The RFEA also wants to highlight the speed at which the Circuit officials removed the offensive banners and the trouble markers from the stands. The governing body has asked the circuits to increase their preventive measures to avoid this kind of incidents in the future.
Additionally the Circuit de Catalunya issued this statement threatening potential legal action against the spectators:
We strongly support the FIA’s position with regards to fighting against all racial, political or religious discrimination in motor sport. The Circuit de Catalunya will not allow even the smallest incident to repeat itself within its facilities, and new measures are currently being taken into consideration in addition to those implemented during the latest sessions.
These measures have been studied with the support of the Catalan Police and the Circuit’s security services, and they will be reinforced in the upcoming tests sessions and at the Gran Premio de Espana Telefonica de Formula 1. In case of sanctions, the Circuit de Catalunya may consider the possibility of taking legal actions against those who caused the incidents, regardless of the magnitude.
The Circuit de Catalunya will officially state its position to the FIA, the Real Federacion Espanola de Automovilismo and the rest of circuits in Spain, with special interest for those who also host Formula 1 tests.
Photo copyright: McLaren media
More on racism in F1
Ah yes! It’s Alonso that has to lead the charge, it’s “HIS” people that are the trouble makers!
Four idiots in monkey suits versus 70 million worldwide fans…….and WE’RE giving them the stage. This isn’t even a story. Ignor them.
I find it odd that those photographed were not removed from the circuit. If a photographer can see them, then so can everyone else.
I’m not sure Alonso needs to get involved. After all, it isn’t like he asked for these people to do this. And honestly, are these @£$%s actually going to listen to Fernando!?
Instead, it needs the circuits that F1 visits to be warned by the FIA that behaviour like this would result in the race being taken away. This would put the onus on the circuits to deal with the idiots and may even allow Bernie to get some free space for his new events.
I’m not saying Alonso’s responsible, I’m saying it would be an effective way of dealing with it.
He is obviously the most popular F1 driver in Spain, and if him taking a stand against this persuades even one person to make these people stop then it would be entirely worthwhile.
Besides which, if someone were racially abusing someone else and using me to legitimise it (look at the back of their shirts), I’d consider it the only decent thing to do.
I agree that if one person changes then his words would be worth it. I just don’t think it would work. Some people are just idiots and the only way to effectively deal with them is to ban them from entering the events. If they get in, then security should be all over them as soon as the start doing the strange stuff that they did. They should be taken down to the police station, charged and then told to never step foot in a racing circuit again, their record going to the circuit for future policing.
I agree completely. I just think it should be led by the FIA rather than Fernando.
A campaign to get rid of these kind of people shouldn’t be led by Alonso, but by everyone in F1. In football they have “Show Racism The Red Card” which involves the vast majority of players. All the drivers should put their weight behind a campaign to get rid of all racism in F1, in particular these idiots at Catalunya.
We have seen the same thing in football for decades. Alonso has to let these people know he is disgusted by their behaviour. Whether people that stupid will listen who knows but it is something football clubs have been doing for a long time.
In Scotland we have the religious bigotry associated with Rangers and Celtic and both clubs have gone to enormous lengths to make clear what is and is not acceptable behaviour.
There will always be a minority who believe that their hero is only saying what is politically correct and that really he agrees with them but justcan’t say so publically. These people need to be dealt with by the circuits and if necessary the police.
Number 38 suggests ignoring them. That is absolutely wrong. Football did that initially and the problem became a lot worse. These people and incidenst must be stamped on hard. The people involved should be given life time bans from all motor racing events as happens in football.
These ‘fans’ are doing F1 no favours at all and this kind of behaviour needs to be stamped on now. There is no excuse for it.
Again, I do not think this is racism, the insults over Hamilton does have a motive, true or false, that is a not good perception of the behaviour and words of Lewis, some people does think so, the 4 with gorilla masks. What that people did is tasteless, but to say F1 is having a problem of racism is too much to say in my opinion.
The racism does not need a motive, the motive is just the colour of the skin, there is not another motive.
You can not involve the name of another driver in this. If we have to stop the racism in F1, it would be good before to know if that is a repeated behaviour in the time or a isolated fact, and that is the job of the FIA and the police, not for the shoulders of the drivers.
We can not to brandish the flag against the racism for 4 stupid people with gorilla masks. That is not a racist attack.
We will see if this is repeated again, but hopefully it is just a grossness of a stupid people, I can not see an attack in this.
I really don’t believe what I’m seeing just here.
It seems the football hooligans seems to have found themselves a new home in the F1 arena using the excuse of Fernando Alonso.This has nothing to do with him , and I don’t think they’ll listen even if he speaks.From reading Ed Gorman’s F1 blog in particular I have got the impression that there was some extreme partisanship on the part of quite a few Spanish fans but even so this I didn’t think it got this deep.
The same kind of thing has happened over here but to a lesser extent.As you pointed out in your last post F1’s really become more mainstream and unfortunately people seem not to understand that F1 isn’t like football (including ITV - judging by their Brazilian GP shambles of a programme) .There is no “England” team here and people seem to be unable to appreciate F1 for what it is.
There are going to be two races in Spain next year for the first time since 97 and they are the only country to have this privilege. Heaven help us if they come back to ruin stuff - I really like the look of Valencia but I don’t see why there should be any F1 if hooligans think they can ruin things.I get the impression in Spain that this problem isn’t taken as seriously as it should be and perhaps people might get the message if the FIA said there was going to be no Grand Prix anymore.
Carlos, given the reports of what was shouted at Hamilton and the fact that the people in the Pitpass pictures were wearing T-shirts with the slogans “Hamilton’s family”, I do not think you can deny this was a racist attack.
Action must be taken against it right away, to leave these people in no doubt that it is not acceptable, and to prevent others from doing the same.
I agree with the last paragraph,”Action must be taken against it right away, to leave these people in no doubt that it is not acceptable, and to prevent others from doing the same.”
But we have to use the “Racism” and “attack” words very carefully. Maybe I have to know more about that incidents, and maybe you are right, if that people did throw things against the Mclaren team, then I do consider it as an attack, but I do see too much contradictory sources about that.
At least the FIA have a voice today and have responded with threatened sanctions should the behaviour be repeated. Which is better than the bury head in sand approach.
Autosport, BlogF1.
Thanks for that Ollie. Here’s the statement from the FIA:
Here are the FIA statutes in full: PDF download. Good to see they’re not messing about with this.
I would like to add that any form of bigotry - racial or religous is unacceptable not only in sport but in life as said earlier it should be stamped down - and action not words are what is req they should have been thrown out - why not?? - and what action against future idiots is going to happen?
Oh, there’s always idiots. And when you get a really successful sports star, they come out of the woodwork. We had it with the clowns in their Mansell T-shirts who used to come to the British GP in the early 90s with their “F*** Senna” banners.
And I remember being ashamed of my old home town after hearing that a group of German tourists were assaulted the night after Germany knocked England out of Euro ‘96…
Then there were the idiots from Schumi’s army who made issued death threats to Damon Hill….
Best to do what we can to keep these people away from F1.
Disgraceful. They should have been removed from the circuit and banned from any future races or meetings at any FIA organised event.
This is a problem for all sports (we have had two recent disgraceful events here in Oz at the Tennis & Cricket)and is only going to get worse before it gets better.
Racism is not to be tolerated in any form, and those responsible for this should have been ejected from the grounds and not allowed to return.
If you want to be nationalistic about motor racing, go watch the A1.
it’s a disgrace, it’s shameful, and I could use a thesaurus to add more to this… we should not let this go on, at any stage of life, and in particular in F1
well done to Keith for insisting on this, it’s very important
I agree with you, Keith; I do believe that Alonso should step up to the plate and offer a statement to his fans — not because I think the truly racist minority (there’s a weird misnomer for you, grin) will listen, but because, for at least one other reason, many will lose respect for him if he doesn’t. I know that I will, and I’ve been surprised that I haven’t seen a statement from his camp on this subject already, to be frank.
However, I do agree with some other posters here, as well — to dignify it too much is to legitimize it at all.
I made the mistake of commenting on the fray in Barcelona several hours too soon — my disgust was with the trash-throwing, as I would assume there are always racists in every sport and country and otherwise human environment on the planet, however reprehensible — it’s not exactly news. But I honestly didn’t believe this would turn into a “racial issue”.
An F1 fan commented on my post last night, telling me to be careful with my disdain for McLaren (Dennis & Hamilton) if I didn’t want to be labeled a racist. In classic style, I scoffed it off with a sarcastic line … and then read “further details” about the McLaren attack (and I do consider it one) this morning.
I am appalled. For a number of reasons.
I am also appalled that I cannot express my ‘disdain’ for Hamilton/Dennis, without the race card being pulled. I’ve posted again on the subject today, granted, but not to retract what I initially wrote; instead, certainly to express how I feel about the entire subject.
But, here’s the deal: I resent needing to “dance” that way. I resent anyone who still uses “race” as a divider, when we all need to pull together as ONE race and “carry each other”.
Sorry, grin … I’m still pretty fired up about all of this, and hope that it will go the way of the dinosaurs, and just like F1 — fast.
Be well.
first of all, i’m not trying to defend anyone who did something racist, but thre is an explanation for the outfits.
this weekend is the carnival party in Spain, and it’s a tradition to wear costumes. usually this costumes are funny or even irreverent. So i’m pretty sure that people wearing that costumes, weren’t trying to offend anyone.
The racist insult and banner existed, and it’s regrettable, but don’t try to find more than what really happened.
Thanks for the context, Frecon. Can you give us any more details?
I read elsewhere that it was similar to taunts that some black footballers have received in Spain, including one called Samuel Etoo. I’m no expert on this, I was wondering if anyone else had heard anything similar? As Frecon says this is not to mitigate or trivialise what happened, just to understand it.
This article in Marca (in Spanish) also seems to have some new information about what went on. A crude translation using Google suggests they’re putting the number of people involved at 3,500, which would be alarming if true:
Perhaps some of the Spanish speakers here could provide a more reliable interpretation?
Samuel Eto’o is a Barcelona player who received a lot of racist abuse. I am not sure why he was singled out but there were examples of teams with other black players whose fans subject Eto’o to racist abuse.
Why are we spending so much time picking on a few hooligans in the grandstands. Oh, sure, we’re going to ban them from races.
What about the Muslim hooligans that burn 4000 cars in Paris, how you going to ban them?
Instead of expecting Alonso to quell the crowd why not ask Bernie to move the race.
Hi, 38 — can you name a country where racism doesn’t exist? To where Bernie should relocate Spain from the circuit?
Just curious, because I’m a very uninformed American, and I’m only trying to learn here.
Alonso HAS to get involved, absolutely! I’m surprised that with all the reporters and journalists around he hasn’t condemn these acts yet in Barcelona.
Not because it’s his responsibilty how his fans behave, but because he has to distance himself and make it clear to his fans that it’s not the support he wants. I do beleive if he harshly condemned this it would stop most of these lunatics acting this way. And even if it wouldn’t (which I don’t beleive) it would be an important gesture.
Schumacher also distanced himself and condemn it when his fans threatened Damon Hill in 1994. That’s what I expect from Alonso too!
Frecon!
I don’t think chanting “f****** black” and so on has anything to do with some Spanish carnival, sorry.
Kostyasch, I said yesterday, and i repeat now. Racist insults existed and it’s regettable, and it’s not related with carnivals. I only gave an explanations for costumes. Irreverents costumes are a tradition. About politicians, about religion, about celebrities and of course about sport. I don’t know that people but i think they were trying to make fun of Anthony Hamilton going with Lewis at every GP. I think so, but maybe i’m wrong.
I was yesterday reading a lot of newspaper and i think the translation of Marca is pretty close to reality. Apparently it wasn’t an isolated group of people, and most of the people placed in front of the Mclaren box was booing and insulting Hamilton. Circuit staff decided to fence that part of the stands after a Mclaren responsible made an unofficial complaining. Also staff decided tor retire all posters. i think in a normal situation most of the posters wasn’t offensive, but with all the racist abuse issue, it was a good idea remove it. Also a little group of people was expelled from circuit. Maybe this decissions could in the future save Montmelo to be punish.
I’d like to belive that the racist abuse was started by a minority, and the crowd start to adding without realising what they were really doing. I’d would like to belive that the racist abuse it wasn’t racism and some people chose the most evident of Lewis characteristics to build insults, and they also could insult the beard of Heidfild, or the bald of Dennis.
But the fact is, more than 3000 people was shouting, booing, and a lot insulting Lewis and that’s completely regrettable.
Alonso SHOULD step up to the plate and denounce these ‘fans’, for sure.
I have a clear opinion on this which is that the root of this racism is Spain itself. If you look at racism in football and how Spanish people in this thread try to explain that it’s partly just a bit of fun just proves my opinion that Spain is at least more racist than any other big European country I know. I don’t think Alonso will speak up as this will probably alienate him from those kind of fans, which I think are quite large in numbers in Spain. Just look at football, Eto’o is just one example, it happens all the time and the Spanish federation does nothing about it. Or the quotes of Aragones, in every other major football nation the manager would’ve been fired, no questions asked. I know that the Spanish people will now say that it’s all not meant that way, but how would you feel if English fans would start treating Alonso the same way? Spain is sadly a little far behind in the fight against racism and shows no signs of tackling it properly.
Alonso should definitely step in and publicly criticise the so-called ‘fans’ who have taken part in this dispicable act. It’s clear they hate Hamilton as a lot of fair weather english fans will hate Alonso , but bringing race into it is too easy, backward and bigoted. Spanish football suffers a similar indignity unfortunately as do a lot of Eastern European countries which subject black footballers to horrific chants when national teams play matches. People criticise England football fans, but it’s not like it was in the 80’s - and that’s through schemes like kicking racism out of football. Other sports and nations should look at what the FA has done with english football and take action against those who bring sport into disrepute with racist abuse.
http://www.adrivo.com/nachrichten/formel1/55750/2008/02/04/kein_platz_fuer_unsportliches_verhalten___fia_macht_ernst.html
This German article claims Alonso commented it saying: “Some of those spectators are like animals.”
IMO he could have said more but at least he commented it and condemned it at last!
Thanks Kostyasch.
Michael K. I’m not trying to justify or trivialise anything. I’m just trying to put a context in a single fact, and it was the issue about the customes. I’ve try to explain the tradition of the costumes, and my point it’s people here probably don’t think is more than a joke. Anyway I understand for other people out of Spain, with an explanation could be offensive, and also i understand for other people even with the explanation is still offensive.
I’ ve said in all my post, but i insist, I DO NOT defend any racist abuse, I DO NOT say that racial abuse didn’t exist, I DO NOT justify that behavior.
Sadly racism in Spain exists as in most of the other europeans countries. Racist behavior exists in spanish sport fields, as exists in most of the other european countries. Sadly Spain have been the first country showing racist abuse in F1.
I don’t think Alonso is responsible of any of this. Last season basically he complained about Mclaren, and since he left the team, he has refused to answer any question related with Hamilton. I think the ones who must calm down that people are the 2 or 3 journalist who light up the hatred to Hamilton. An Alonso criticism could help, but i think then he will assuiming responsability in something which is completly unconected with him.
Etoo. It was racial abuse in some fields of Spanish League, and is still happening this year. In some fields the majority of the crowd protests and achieve to silence the racial insults, but unfortunately it’s very unsual. Oddly Aragones was one of the first Etoo’s coach, and Etoo always talk about him as an excellent person who teached a lot about football.
I forgot… talking about hatred and fair play
1994 WRC championship. British Rally. On the second day Carlos Sainz was in the first position, and McRae was Second. Next day Sainz was the first in run each sector. Oddly when he ran the sectors it was trunks in the middle of the roads, which misteriously had dissapeared when McRae drove in the same parts.
I think there are two distinct issues here and one of them is being lost.
Racism is indefensible and rightly is being condemned.
But people seem for some reason to want to spend time, effort and money to go to a track to shout abuse and throw things at a team/driver. While it is important that the racism is dealt with it is also important that someone deals with the morons who hurl abuse of other kinds. Motor racing does not need that. By all means if you can’t find anything better to do with your life make up posters etc but at least try and understand the context.
Throwing anything at a car,driver or team should result in a life time ban. Motor racing is dangerous but morons who throw things make it infinitely more dangerous than is necessary.
The racism has to be dealt with but so does the underlying behaviour. This is motor racing not war.
Sad and shameful! Those guys are ********, and unfortunately a bunch of stupid guys in gorilla masks sells more papers than millions of fans who respect others opinions and can understand sport has nothing to do with politics or races.
Frecon, I understand your point and also what you wrote before. I agree, racism exists anywhere in the world, Eastern Europe was also rightly mentioned in this context. Britain, France, Germany, etc. were all at the same stage that Spain is at now, the difference for me looking at it from the outside is that it is generally more accepted and almost nothing is being done against it. The Aragones case clearly stands out here as does the racist abuse of visiting European teams as examples that got widespread international coverage but from the Spanish side not much was done.
It is good that Alonso made remarks against this sort of behaviour and my view of him would definitely change for the better if he openly attacked those animals as he called them.
I agree. I think spanish people don’t realise about the size of racism problem, and think is a minority who are racist. But doing nothing about racim you’re supporting it. Solutions must be took inmediatly.
Although i think the Aragones affair was a missundertanding, and he’s not racist. But i think it’s not only what you think is also what you say, and after that quotes Aragones should been inmediatly fired.
Keith,
There is something wrong here, I thinked the people in the photo of pitpass are wearing gorilla masks, meaning they are insulting Lewis with a racist topic, I can not see these masks, just I see people with black makeup pretending to be a lot of Hamiltons saying Alonso is the number 1, exactly where is the racist thing in this? It would be the gorilla masks what would be a racist insult, but these masks do not exist.
About the banners I have seen one referring the crane in germany, and other one saying “Hamilton, you talk too much ****”, again, what is the racism here?
There was a great part of the crowd insulting Hamilton, and somebody did listen racists insults from somebody in the crowd, but it is very different to say that all the crowd was doing racists insults. And this is the only racist thing that I can find in this story.
About the things that the people did throw over Lewis, I was trying find something, but nothing of that seem have happened.(Pitpass says yes, but the rest of media do not say the same thing). Maybe I am not right, but I can not find that.
Still, there was racist insults and one is enough, all that people should be identified and admonished, and maybe something more than that, but if we are talking about racism, we have to say what exactly happened and how exactly that racism was, and to verify the facts, then we can talk about racism.
“just I see people with black makeup pretending to be a lot of Hamiltons” “exactly where is the racist thing in this?”
Are you joking?
Carlos,
Do you not think black make up suggests racism? It does in the rest of the world. It will to Max and the FIA. This kind of lunacy could result in Spain losing its F1 races.
No-one is saying the whole crowd is racist.
39 postings of rubbish, here is the Catalunya story we should be chatting up:
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=33861
Does the black make-up indicate racism?
The gorilla masks do it, because it does mean a black person is being compared to an animal in a derogatory way, but I do not see the racist insult in the black make-up.
I do find the story with the gorilla masks is very different that the story without the gorilla masks.
Historically, I think sensitivity to white people putting on black make-up and pretending to be black is to do with derogatory representations of black people in forms of entertainment such as minstrel shows (see Wikipedia) but I’m sure other people can give you more detailed explanations than I can.
Keith,
In Spain we do have traditions as the 3 magi kings, one of the kings is black, and usually a white man uses black makeup with that purpose, that is not derogatory, in fact that black king is traditionally the dearest king for a spanish child. That black makeup in minstrel shows did can be derogatory in the XIX century in a part of the world, but we have not that view in Spain.
No offence Carlos but I don’t think the Spanish consider Lewis Hamilton the dearest king. Also regarding the gorilla masks not being racist - a few years ago when England played Spain at football in Spain Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole endured racist chants coupled with monkey noises, so I think there is definitely a racist element in these masks.
Vertigo, you stole my thunder there. I agree, there seems to be an total intolerance to English blacks in Spain…. In the football situation, FIFA only gave a poultry fine. Let’s hope the FIA has a more solid spine & wipes Spain off the F1 calendar if this happens agian. ZERO TOLERENCE is the only way.. FFS, its the 21st century, not the 18th!
Vertigo,
There is no offence, welcome.
Not, Lewis is not too much loved here, but it is not for the colour of his skin.
Really, I do not know too much about football, the names and that match are unknown for me, I suppose they are black people too, really I do not know about that, sorry.
.oO(A poultry fine? What, he had to hand his chickens over? Ohhhh, wait a minute, I think he means “paltry” :D)
Sorry, couldn’t resist. I’ve seen no photos of gorilla masks, apart from those worn by Kimi a while back. They were merely faces painted black and so indicated the extent of their owners’ ignorance as well as their racism; Hamilton’s mother is white.
Number 38, I hate to say it, but the PitPass article referred to by your good self almost certainly made the news only because of the racist furore over the weekend. Had there been no scandal, we would probably never have learned of Claudia’s support for McLaren - PitPass are doing a noble thing in trying to show the other side of the story.
It’s the old, old story: bad news makes the headlines, good news is consigned to a short paragraph on page 34.
Further useful context on Autosport that covers a lot of the things we’ve been discussing.