“I don't particularly think it was a joke. It's something that happened in the past and going forward all that is important to me is that I know I have lots of fans, especially here in the UK. As long as I have my country behind me it makes me very proud,” said Hamilton during the launch of the new Blackberry Storm phone at the Vodafone store on Oxford Street.
A group of Spanish fans have launched an anti-Hamilton website prior to the Brazilian Grand Prix last weekend, naming it pinchalaruedadehamilton.com (burst Hamilton's tire). All viewers who entered the site had the opportunity to pick a place on the Interlagos track where they wanted Hamilton to suffer a tire blow and lose the title race to Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
Despite FIA and McLaren condemning the site the very day after its launch, Ecclestone insisted the media blew things way out of proportions and argued that these kind of incidents are quite common and should be regarded as jokes within the F1 paddock.
“ I think people look and read into things that are not there. All those things are all a bit of a joke and people are entitled to support who they want to support. I don't see why people should have been insulted by it. These things are people expressing themselves,” said Ecclestone soon after the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was first targeted by the Spanish fans earlier this year, during a testing session at Barcelona in February, as a consequence of his conflictual relationship with Fernando Alonso while teammates at McLaren. A group of F1 fans have then dressed in black and worn dark make-up, mocking Hamilton as soon as he hit the track.
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