Ecclestone, the president of Formula One, described an incident in Barcelona in February in which some spectators blackened their faces, wore wigs and sported tee-shirts with the words '"Hamilton's family" on them as "a bit of a joke" and said he did not think "it was anything to do with racism".

 

Ecclestone claimed he had now spoken to Hamilton's father Anthony to clarify his comments and clear up any misunderstanding with the sport's first black world champion.

 

Arun Kang, the chief exeuctive of Sporting Equals, had led the condemndation of Ecclestone.

 

He said: "The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone were irresponsible and he must understand that in his position excusing that behaviour can be interpreted as condoning it.

 

"There are already significant barriers in the way for black and minority ethnic people to excel in sport, and this dismissal of racist incidents by the head of motor racing can deter people from being involved in the sport.

 

"Any organisation that is serious about tackling racism must acknowledge it exists and only then can we start to tackle it.

 

"It’s not an easy decision due to the influence of commercial and political drivers but the FIA have a moral duty to take a zero tolerance approach.

 

"We provide advice on racial equality to national governing bodies of sport, and would be happy to provide help and support to the FIA.”

 

Hamilton's build-up to the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, where he clinched the title on Sunday to become, at the age of 23, the sport's youngest ever world champion, was disrupted by another racism row involving Spain.

 

The Spanish branch of New York-based advertising agency, TWBA, which is part of Omnicom was forced to close down a website set-up where people were asked to leave virtual pins, nails and porcupines to stop Hamilton winning the Grand Prix  after hundreds of abusive messages about the British driver were posted.

 

Last month Mercedes Coghen, the chief executive of Madrid 2016, admitted that racism in Spanish sport is a major concern and could scupper the their chances of beating rivals Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo to host the Olympics.

 

It followed a report published on insidethegames that England's football team is currently refusing to play an international friendly against European champions Spain in Madrid in 2009 because its players were racially abused during a match at Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium in 2004.

 

UEFA, football's governing body in Europe, had also ordered Atletico Madrid to play two Champions League home games at a neutral venue because of violent and racist behaviour by the club's fans during a match against Marseille earlier last month.

 

That decision was later changed on appeal.

 

Also, on the eve of the Olympics in Beijing, Spain's men's basketball team posed for a publicity photo where they used their fingers to apparently make their eyes look more Chinese.

 

That image emerged during the Beijing Games, and the photo continued to be used for publicity purposes in Spain long past the Olympics.