F1 links: Racism investigation for Spanish GP

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FIA launches racism investigation

“Motorsport’s governing body says it is investigating after a member of the crowd with a blacked-up face was filmed at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. The pictures showed a man with a blacked-up face, arms and hands, wearing a McLaren T-shirt and holding a Formula 1-style steering wheel. […]

An FIA spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of it and we are looking into it.'”

James Allen’s Spanish GP verdict

"[Rubens Barrichello's] third stint wasn’t fast enough. It wasn’t about traffic: He was in clear air most of the time."

Brawn denies team orders suggestions

Ross Brawn: "The fact that Rubens is unhappy is a healthy sign because I'd feel very strange if he was quite content to be second behind Jenson."

Rear wing copywork at BMW

"BMW brought at Barcelona a major aerodynamic upgrade package, including a rear wing with the marked additional flap on the central 150mm. It exploits an idea from Toyota that is now also used by Ferrari."

Button wins, Barrichello and Vettel lose

"Interesting cameo in the Red Bull area after the race where someone close to Mark Webber, who drove brilliantly to leapfrog Massa and Vettel and grab a podium, said, ‘I’m glad someone here is happy,” implying that the place was like a morgue because the chosen one had not got the anticipated result…"

Wary Raikkonen ponders F1 future

"This is not F1 anymore. That's why there is a question mark. We'll see what happens. There are a lot of question marks and nobody seems to know what kind of rules we are going to get."

An easy ride in to the track

"The attendance at this year’s Spanish Grand Prix is noticeably down on recent years. This morning we drove in at 8am and didn’t stop once."

Whitmarsh: F1 at a ‘critical’ point

"Members of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) held a two-hour meeting in the Toyota motorhome at Barcelona on Sunday morning, and it is expected that the teams will meet again next week to discuss their next plan of action."

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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12 comments on “F1 links: Racism investigation for Spanish GP”

  1. The FIA need to come down very hard on the circuit for the “blacked-up” fan. The circuit has been warned already and the Spanish motoring fraternity said of the original incident a year ago that it was an isolated incident, and gave assurances it would not happen again. It’s time to make an example and set a strong and meaningful precedent with a very large fine for starters. It would also be good if Alonso condemmed this behaviour, but somehow I don’t think this will happen (but I’m happy to be proved wrong).

    Incidentally, what was the point of the http://www.everyrace.net initiative. People were invited to pledge their sipport by submitting their name and email but then nothing happened. What’s the point…

    1. I don’t think Alonso condemned it last year either. From the way I saw it, I think the cameras were out looking for someone to be ‘rascist’. Was he the only one there? How can we be sure it wasn’t a stunt by the TV companies?
      As for the everyrace thing, I think most teams are an international mix and most supporters are too internationally minded (look at the mix here on F1 Fanatic) to need to sign up.

    2. The FIA need to come down very hard on the circuit for the “blacked-up” fan.

      I think the FIA need to come down hard on the circuit because it’s really boring and needs changing :-)

      I think it’d be a bit harsh to penalise the track, he could have applied the make up while in the toilets or a tent or something and the staff at the circuit can’t watch everyone, all of the time.

      If anything the man should be identified (if possible) and asked to explain himself, I bet it wouldn’t be that hard to find out who he was now his picture has been shown all over the world.

  2. Sush Meerkat
    11th May 2009, 10:42

    who needs Suzy Perry, we have Lee McKenzie, rock on.

    as for the racist thug, did he get kicked out?.

  3. Hi, Keith

    To understand what really happened at Spain, you should read this article written by Anthony Davidson:

    http://www.pumamotorsport.com/2009/05/dont-believe-the-conspiracy-theories-jenson-won-fair-and-square/

    1. Mussolini's Pet Cat
      11th May 2009, 18:23

      Cheers for that, I think most sensible people knew this is the way it happened.

    2. Thanks for the article Becken, I’ve added it to the collection for tomorrow.

      But I have to say I don’t think it tells us anything about what “really” happened yesterday other than Anthony Davidson’s opinion of it. He hasn’t revealed any facts we didn’t know immediately after the race.

      Davidson is obviously a very useful person to get an opinion from as he knows the team and current F1 very well. But you can’t rule out him having a vested interest in the matter either.

      That said, I share Davidson’s view that it wasn’t a conspiracy on Brawn’s part – though I wouldn’t put it as emphatically as he does. Frankly I think the team needs to admit that Barrichello’s interests were not best served by him staying on a three-stopper, given the safety car had come out earlier. It really is quite strange that they didn’t put him on the same strategy as Button to ensure he stayed ahead. That’s what I lot of people have difficulty understanding.

      Much, much more on it here: Did Brawn deliberately give Barrichello a poor strategy to let Button win?

  4. Would F1 be any poorer with the loss of Kimi???? I think not. Yes he is a personable guy and a good racing driver, but is he the type of guy to rally the team and bring them back to the front of the grid? I highly doubt it.
    There are plenty of drivers good enough to do that for Ferrari i think.

    1. But would Ferrari allow their cars to carry Spanish colours? :-)

    2. Is nationality a consideration at all at Ferrari? It’s 15 years since they had an Italian driver.

    3. No, it probably isn’t. I was just thinking that Alonso would be bringing his own sponsors and demands for a Catalan flag on the car :-)

  5. I really doubt that Alonso would demand a “catalan” flag, when he is from Asturias, which is Spain afterall.

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