Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, the victim of racial abuse from Spanish fans earlier this month, took top honours on Tuesday in Formula One pre-season testing in southern Spain.
The McLaren driver was fastest among the 16 drivers on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit with a time of one minute 19,102 seconds, beating his previous best time on the same track of 1:19,131 on January 10.
He outpaced Spain’s Pedro de la Rosa, who recorded 1:19,287 in another McLaren and third-placed Robert Kubica of Poland in a BMW-Sauber (1:19,539).
Honda’s Austrian test driver Alex Wurz and Germany’s Sebastian Vettel in a Toro Rosso both spun off the track during the session, but neither was injured.
During tests at the Montmelo circuit near Barcelona on February 3, Hamilton was subjected to insults from a group of spectators wearing black wigs with black make-up and T-shirts bearing the legend ”Hamilton’s Family” on the front and ”Alonso No 1” on the back.
The Spanish fans’ behaviour was seen as a reaction to perceived favouritism by McLaren for Britain’s Hamilton last season at the expense of Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who has since rejoined Renault.
The sport’s governing body, FIA, has warned that Spain may lose its Formula One Grands Prix this year over the incidents. — Sapa-AFP