Kelly Piquet with Nelson Piquet (Twitter)
Brazil’s Nelson Piquet is a three-time F1 World Champion and an iconic name in the world of motorsport – former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s jewellery was found in his farm.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro recently handed over jewelry and ‘gifts’ to Brazilian authorities – some of which were found in Nelson Piquet’s farm in Brasilia. Bolsonaro is a controversial figure who had often been accused of corruption and he allegedly brought these jewels illegally to Brazil. Former F1 World Champion Nelson Piquet happens to be a close aide cum supporter of Bolsonaro and even campaigned for him during the 2018 Brazil Presidential Elections.
Bolsonaro was ordered by Brazil’s federal audit court (TCU) to deliver the second set of jewelry that he received from the Saudi government, within five days. A first set of jewelry and expensive items was seized by the customs officials back in 2021. Meanwhile, a third set of jewelry has now been found from Nelson Piquet’s farm in Brasilia. This third jewelry package is made up of a white gold, diamond Rolex watch, a Chopard pen, cufflinks, a ring, and an Islamic rosary.
Nelson Piquet has been a controversial figure since retirement from F1
Nelson Piquet always appears to be surrounded in a cloud of controversy due to his lifestyle and activities. He has often had serious trouble with the government authorities in relation to rash driving, accidents and parking violations. Moreover, he doesn’t seem to have any control over his language and has been criticised frequently for incidents such as calling Ayrton Senna ‘gay’, Nigel Mansell ‘uneducated blockhead’, Enzo Ferrari ‘senile’ and even for calling his wife ‘ugly’.
Piquet was recently subjected to widespread criticism for using racial slurs against Lewis Hamilton. Piquet was speaking in November 2022 to Motorsport Talk’s Ricardo Oliveira, in Portuguese, about Hamilton’s clash with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix in 2021, which ended with the Dutch driver going off the track and suffering a major impact with the barriers. The Brazilian used a racist term in the interview – an epithet that can be translated as the N-word and the whole F1 community including drivers, the FIA and Hamilton himself called for appropriate action against the former champion.
Follow our dedicated Formula One page for instant Formula One news and updates