BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Spain could be stripped of both its Grand Prix races if the racist behavior of some people, seen at the last Barcelona test, is not stamped out.
A small group of Spanish spectators hurled racist remarks and displayed unfriendly banners against Lewis Hamilton, the first F-1 driver with an African-Caribbean heritage. It has now been revealed that some Spanish spectators acted in a similar way at last year’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton is unpopular with some Fernando Alonso fans who think that Hamilton caused the Spaniard to lose the championship last year.
“We will do everything we can to stamp this out,” FIA President Max Mosley told The Sunday Times  in London. “We will do whatever it takes.
“If, as appears to be the case, a very small number of people are involved, it ought to be possible to stop it immediately. If it isn’t, then we have sanctions and we could pull the Grand Prix.”
Spain’s motorsports federation and the track issued a statement condemning the spectators’ actions.
Hamilton said he felt saddened by what had happened, especially as Spain and Barcelona are two of his favorite travel destinations, and because he has a warm relationship with most of the Spanish fans.

• Tony Rolt passed away at age 89. He was the last driver still living who raced in the first ever World  Championship Grand Prix in 1950. A winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, Rolt was a medal-winner in World War II. His exploits included helping build a glider in an attempt to escape from the German prison-castle fortress Colditz. The war ended before the glider was completed.

• Aguri Suzuki told Japanese newspaper Chunichi Sports that his Super Aguri team is negotiating with several investors to bring in some much needed cash, and that his team will survive. He also said that the team will almost certainly retain drivers Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson.

• A standoff between F-1 czar Bernie Ecclestone and the Australian government over holding the Australian Grand Prix at night could result in Melbourne losing the race after 2010.
Last week, Ecclestone said that the race’s future was in question, but now the Melbourne Sunday Herald says that “Mr. Ecclestone said there was no chance it would be in Melbourne after 2010.”
Ecclestone wants a night race so that it can be viewed on TV at a civilized time in Europe, and says that is non-negotiable.
But government spokesman George Svigos told the newspaper: “The Government’s position is that there will not be a night race.”
As for Sydney hosting a F-1 race, Ecclestone retorted: “There is nothing in Sydney — they haven’t even got a circuit.”

• London’s Daily Mirror newspaper says that Ecclestone will head to St. Petersburg to discuss a Russian Grand Prix replacing the Australian event.
“Nothing is done yet,” Ecclestone told the paper. “But this could be an interesting development for the sport. We would like to get it in the calendar as soon as we can but that depends on them — it is down to how long it takes them to get the circuit ready.”
Ecclestone has been trying to get a Russian Grand Prix organized for more than 20 years. His initial forays ended up in the Hungarian Grand Prix being held behind the Iron Curtain in 1986, but all plans in mother Russia have failed.

• Melbourne is not the only Grand Prix under threat. Bernie Ecclestone has again questioned the future of the British race at Silverstone after 2009 even though circuit owners, the BRDC, have moved a step closer to updating the facilities. Ecclestone said Silverstone must pay “market price” [allegedly double the $16 million it currently pays] if it hopes to retain the race.

• Ferrari and Toyota wrapped up two three-day warm weather test sessions in Bahrain. Kimi Raikkonen set a blistering pace in his Ferrari, lapping nearly a second quicker than the fastest qualifying time last year.

• One of Fernando Alonso’s gripes at McLaren was that he was not given number one status. So what is the situation at Renault between Alonso and rookie teammate Nelson Piquet?
“I don’t want to talk about number one, two, three, four, five, six or seven,” team boss Flavio Briatore said. “It is quite easy. Both drivers are working for the team, we are working together and we will see. But we start with one point that is very important — Fernando is a World Champion. We have the World Champion back, he won two titles with us, and Nelsinho is the young guy and he will learn.”

• After several tests with Mercedes-Benz, former F-1 driver Ralf Schumacher is closing in on a ride in the German Touring Car Championship [DTM] series.

• McLaren may have put last year’s Ferrari spy scandal behind it, and the FIA may have closed out the messy affair, but the legal case rolls on in Italy.
Reports in the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper say that McLaren team members Ron Dennis, CEO Martin Whitmarsh, engineering director Paddy Lowe, former chief designer Mike Coughlan and several others [plus ex-Ferrari man Nigel Stepney] will be called to Italy to answer a prosecutor’s questions.

• Renault has added Sakon Yamamoto, 25, to its roster of test drivers. Yamamoto, who drove in 14 GPs for Super Aguri and Spyker, will also be a driver in Renault’s F-1 “Roadshow” program.