Lewis Hamilton has distanced himself from suggestions that the British media has an attitude with "racist undertones" about Lewis Hamilton.
Heading into his home race, one reporter for the left-wing newspaper The Guardian asked the Mercedes driver about his British "accent", the time he spends in the US, and the fact that he lives in Monaco.
"I remember watching Jenson Button and all the others coming through and every one migrated to Monaco and no one ever said anything about it. When I did, they had something to say about it," Hamilton responded.
But then, former British footballer Rio Ferndinand wrote a social media post about Hamilton and said there are "racist undertones" to the criticism of him.
"I can understand Rio’s opinion and he has the right to say that," Hamilton responded. "It is not an area that I particularly want to go down.
"I have got supporters from all different ethnic backgrounds and I love that I am part of bringing people together that perhaps would not have been before. I am really proud of that, and I am just going to keep going," he said.