Mercedes sack racist staff

LEWIS HAMILTON’S Mercedes team have sacked four staff for racist bullying. They dismissed the men last month for breaching their diversity policy, after an investigation into the allegations at their Northamptonshire headquarters. A Mercedes statement confirmed that the rule-breakers — believed to be IT staff — left the company on August 2. It was reported that the sacked men called a colleague a ‘Muslim terrorist’ and asked people to guess when the Ramadan fast would be broken. Mercedes said: ‘We condemn this behaviour in the strongest terms and acted immediately upon the complaint. We value the diversity of our employees and it is a source of strength for our team.’ A Mercedes spokesman added that Hamilton, who has repeatedly called for greater diversity in F1, ‘echoed the company’s sentiments’ and agreed with the ‘swift way it was dealt with’.

Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea secured a record fifth straight World Superbike title at Magny Cours yesterday, winning race two as nearest rival Alvaro Bautista crashed out.