F1 Blog

Fan is short for fanatic. Fanaticism is “marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea.” Nowadays there is a distinction between being a fan and a fanatic, but the line between the two can be all too easy to cross. Such was he case this week and test held and the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Native son Fernando Alonso tested this week for the first time there since rejoining Renault last month, and it didn’t take long for his “fans” to turn into fanatics. Reports surfaced Saturday on Autosport.com stating that fans were, among other things, constantly heckling McLaren, displaying angry banners, and even throwing things at the McLaren cars as they passed. But this not the reason why I decided to write about the Spanish fans. It got worse when the fans decided to make racist chants towards Lewis Hamilton. Autosport.com stated that,

Reports in the Spanish papers suggested that some of the insults against Hamilton even had a racial element – with Marca claiming that shouts of “puto negro” (fucking black) and “negro de mierda” (black shit) were clearly heard, and that large sections of the crowd were involved.

Now it does strike me as odd that this happened now, since there have been 2 tests each at Jerez and Valencia since Alonso returned to Renault. Obviously both are still in Spain and should have produced the same kind of Alonso fans as the ones in Barcelona. However, as some of you may know, the people of Catalunya, the region surrounding Barcelona, tend to march to their own drum, as evidenced by the fact that they have been trying to break away from Spain and create their own autonomous region for the past several decades. Now I know that may be a stretch, but consider this. Barcelona and Jerez are separated by about 800 miles, which is also about the same distance between Chicago and Atlanta. That’s the difference between the heart of the Midwest, and arguably the heart of the South. Those of us in the U.S. know just how different the cultures of Chicago and Atlanta can be.

What’s most odd, and most revolting, is that Hamilton, as far as we know, played no role in the spy scandal that was part of last season. It involved mostly Alonso and Pedro De La Rosa. Judging by the fans reactions as Barcelona, you’d think that Hamilton was the one taking information from Mike Coughlan and using to illegally gain an advantage. Most ironically, the two drivers involved were both Spanish. Beyond that, it was Alonso who made it plain that he was no Hamilton fan. Alonso was the one who basically blackmailed Ron Dennis at Hungary, saying that if he wasn’t given number 1 status, he’d blow the whistle on the spy scandal. Alonso was the one that ran Hamilton off the road at Spa. And Alonso was the one who acted like JV (a whining prick) most of the season. But that wont stop Alonso’s supporters. They won’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.

What’s most upsetting is that the fans at Barcelona were hounding Hamilton simply because he was of a different skin tone than both Alonso and themselves. This was not a joke gone wrong or an attempt to have some fun. This was pure unadulterated racism. It would be one thing if Hamilton had someone undermined Alonso at McLaren, but he didn’t he proved he had just as much of a right to fight for the driver’s title as Alonso did. If Alonso didn’t like that, he could leave and find a weakling to beat up on, and that’s exactly what he found in Renault and Nelson Piquet Jr. In fact, as I stated before, it was 2 Spainards, Alonso and De La Rosa who were the cause of the spy scandal, and it was Alonso who, over the course of the season, became more and more belligerent towards Alonso.

The FIA stated on Monday that sanctions could be imposed, which could include the removal of both races held in Spain on the 2008 calender, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, and the European Grand Prix on the newly constructed harbor streets of Valencia. Now I believe it is a bit to soon to go quite that far. This incident occurred over the weekend and hopefully is an isolated incident. However, there are two more 3-day tests planned before the Spanish Grand Prix. The first is from February 25-27, and the second from April 14-16. If another incident occurs despited this new warning from the FIA, I would be saddened, but supportive of the removal of both the Spanish and European Grand Prixs from the 2008 calender. Should that unfortunatly happen, the people of Spain will have no else to blame but the fanatics, not the fans.