LEWIS HAMILTON OUT IN FRONT

LEWIS HAMILTON roared to his first pole of the season at Valencia - and hopes sick Spanish racists have now stopped abusing him.

The world champion led a McLaren one-two in European GP qualifying as Jenson Button paid for a mistake to finish fifth.

Brit Hamilton was abused by Spanish fans who painted their faces black and shouted obscene gestures during Barcelona testing last year.

But Hamilton, 24, said: "I hope it is water under the bridge now. I seem to have quite a lot of support here in Spain. The fans have been fantastic to me. For sure there have been some that don't like me, but that's their choice."

Championship leader Button, 28, admitted: "I made a mistake on my last qualifying lap which was disappointing. It is going to be difficult to beat the McLarens, but I reckon it will be an interesting race."

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