Former F1 racer, Nelson Piquet has created fresh controversy after using racist slurs against Lewis Hamilton
Nelson Piquet is a Brazilian retired racing driver and a businessman. A three-time World Champion, Piquet is considered one of the greatest ever F1 drivers. He has been in a cloud of controversy recently after a video clip of his interview surfaced on the internet where he is seen making racist slurs referring to Lewis Hamilton.
Piquet was speaking in November last year 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, which was released publicly on Monday night.
The video of the interview was picked up by Brazilian media including CNN, which reported his words as he referred to the incident. It included an epithet that can be translated as the N-word.
How has the F1 community reacted to the incident?
F1, which has a clear anti-racist platform under the We Race As One banner, swiftly condemned Piquet.
In an official statement, F1 said – “Discriminatory or racist language is unacceptable in any form and has no part in society. Lewis is an incredible ambassador for our sport and deserves respect. His tireless efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are a lesson to many and something we are committed to at F1.”
Hamilton’s present F1 team, Mercedes condemned the remarks in its official statement – “We condemn in the strongest terms any use of the racist or discriminatory language of any kind. Lewis has spearheaded our sport’s efforts to combat racism, and he is a true champion of diversity on and off track.”
The Mercedes race car driver himself said that the “time has come for action. It’s more than language. These archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport. I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn“, Hamilton added.
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