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Brazil's Nelson Piquet (archive image)
Photo: imago sportfotodienst / ZUMA Wire
A racist derailment by three-time world champion Nelson Piquet last year against superstar Lewis Hamilton is currently causing a stir in Formula 1.
In a statement on Tuesday, the racing series condemned discriminatory language as “unacceptable in any form”.
Hamilton was "an incredible ambassador for our sport and deserves respect," it said.
Previously, older statements by the Brazilian Piquet had appeared, with which he had degraded Hamilton in an interview.
The statements made by the Brazilian Piquet come from last November, but were only taken up publicly in the run-up to Hamilton's home race at Silverstone next Sunday (4 p.m.), including by "CNN Brasil" and "Globo".
Accordingly, Piquet had evaluated the serious accident between Mercedes driver Hamilton and later world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) in Silverstone 2021 in a podcast.
The previously leading Verstappen was eliminated because of the accident, Hamilton won the Grand Prix despite a time penalty.
According to Piquet, a mistake by Hamilton was the reason for the crash.
Piquet is the father of Verstappen's partner Kelly Piquet.
During his playing days, he was repeatedly noticed by insulting statements about competitors or teammates.
Hamilton "parked his car because he didn't have a chance to overtake two cars in this corner," said the 69-year-old in the podcast: "He did it for fun.
He was lucky that only Verstappen was fucked.” Piquet referred to Hamilton as “Neguinho”.
»Now is the time to act«
The word can be translated into German as »Negerchen«.
In Brazil, the term is sometimes used as a buddy-like form of address, similar to parts of the African-American subculture.
In this context, however, the use of the word should be interpreted as derogatory, especially since Piquet is not black.
Ultimately, the authority to interpret lies with the recipient, who responded to Piquet's statements on Twitter.
"It's not just about language," Hamilton wrote on Twitter at noon: "These outdated ways of thinking have to change and have no place in our sport." He had been surrounded by such attitudes all his life, he was a target: "It gave plenty of time to learn.
Now is the time to act.«
Piquet didn't respond at first
Piquet initially did not respond to a request from CNN Brasil.
The world association Fia and the Mercedes team also made statements.
"We condemn any use of racist and discriminatory language," said the racing team.
Hamilton, 37, is leading the sport's fight against racism and is a "true champion of diversity on and off the track."
However, the name Piquets did not appear in any of the three messages on Twitter.
ngo/mrk/dpa/sid
