Lewis Hamilton says the racist abuse directed at him this year is not something that he has taken lightly after Bernie Ecclestone labelled the controversies as “a joke”.
Formula 1 supremo Ecclestone, in an interview with BBC Radio on Thursday, moved to play down the incidents of racist abuse that Hamilton has been subjected to this year, both in pre-season testing at Barcelona and on a Spanish website last week.
While Hamilton said he hadn’t heard Ecclestone’s comments and stressed that he himself had put the taunts behind him, he made it clear he didn't regard them as trivial or humorous.
“I don't particularly look at it as a joke," he was quoted as saying by Reuters at a sponsor event on Thursday.
"It's something that's happened but it's in the past and you've got to look forward.
“What's most important for me is that I know I have a lot of support, especially from my UK fans.”
He added: “I haven’t read what Bernie said but I have a huge amount of respect for him and can only assume he said positive things.”
Earlier this week the world champion’s father Anthony revealed that the racist abuse his son had suffered had led him to question whether they should remain in Formula 1.
“I am Lewis’s dad and my first duty is to be protective of my family,” Hamilton Snr told the Daily Mail.
“Sometimes you wonder whether it is worth staying in Formula 1, even when it has been your dream for so long.
“We are all human and have feelings.
“When people behave as they do by taking against Lewis it hurts, and nobody wants that for people they love and care about.” Source:
itv-f1