Lewis Hamilton has denied claims that he is planning to jet off into space with girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger as the rumours trigger racist abuse on Spanish websites.

Reports surfaced today that the 23-year-old was planning to purchase tickets for Richard Branson’s exclusive Virgin Galactic airline to take his family and girlfriend into space at a cost of $1 million.

“Lewis thinks it would be the perfect way to say thank you to Nicole and his family for their support throughout his triumphant year,” a source is quoted as saying by The Evening Standard.

However a McLaren spokesman confirmed to Forumula1.net that this was not the case: “We can confirm that Lewis is not, and has not been considering, purchasing tickets for him and his family to go on the space flight.”

The rumours triggered some racist comments on Spanish websites with one commentator labelling Hamilton a “space chimp.”

McLaren condemned the comments.

“McLaren Mercedes was one of the earliest supporters of the FIA’s ‘Every Race’ campaign, and we support it still,” a McLaren spokesperson said.

In the past we’ve denounced racist comments that have been posted on motorsport websites, and we therefore denounce these comments too.”

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