FIA to Investigate New Racism Incident in Spain

Although it seemed the Spanish fans had gotten over the Lewis Hamilton – Fernando Alonso drama (the two drivers sure did, apparently), new racism behavior from the Barcelona crowd has been spotted during the Spanish Grand Prix the past weekend.

The Spanish media presented several footage of a fan wearing shoe polish on his face and a McLaren t-shirt – a clear reference to British driver Lewis Hamilton – during this weekend's event. The situation has been marked as “serious” by the International Automobile Federation, who announced on Sunday that they have already started investigating the matter.

Barcelona is, so far, the only circuit in the Great Circle where such racism-related events have happened in the past. Last year, during a pre-season testing session at Circuit de Catalonia, furious Spanish fans painted their faces in black and made monkey-like gestures in the grandstands – in addition to the traditional booing – in response to Hamilton's conflictual situation with Fernando Alonso (former teammates at McLaren).

As a result of those incidents, the FIA took immediate actions, giving the Catalan organizers a final warning. However, despite the circuit's new checking-at-the-gates policy, an “intruder” seems to have escaped the vigilant eyes of the organizers.

The new incident comes only two days away from Hamilton's Champions Avenue awarding ceremony at Barcelona. As an F1 tradition, all former F1 champions are granted an entry to the Circuit de Catalonia Champions' Avenue, and it was Hamilton's turn this year.

The FIA announced it will come to a conclusion over the racist incidents in Spain in due time.