"As we have already made clear, McLaren has raced and tested on Spanish circuits for many years and everyone connected with the team regards Spain and the Spanish people with great affection, Lewis Hamilton included."

Spain is set to host two grands prix in 2008, with the traditional Barcelona outing to be joined by a new street race in Valencia later in the summer. In the wake of the abuse directed at Hamilton, the FIA issued threats that strict sanctions would be imposed and Spain could even lose the events should there be any repeat of what happened.

Hamilton became a figure of hate within the country after former team-mate and national hero Fernando Alonso complained publicly last season that he was receiving inferior treatment at McLaren. The fall-out was such that the Spaniard left the Woking-based outfit at the end of the campaign, two years before his three-year contract was due for renewal and having come within a single point of claiming a third consecutive drivers' world crown.