Lewis Hamilton satisfied with the fine imposed on Nelson Piquet for racist remarks against him

Lewis Hamilton welcomed, Thursday, March 30, the fine imposed by the Brazilian justice on the former triple world champion of Formula 1 Nelson Piquet, for having made racist remarks against him, believing that it was not necessary not tolerate people”full of hate“.

The Brazilian, world champion (1981, 1983 and 1987), was sentenced last week to a fine of 945,000 dollars (865,000 euros) by a court in Brasilia for having qualified Lewis Hamilton, himself seven times crowned in F1, from “neguinho“(“little black”) during an interview in 2021. The court found that these “intolerable” remarks constituted a “serious offense to the fundamental values ​​of society” and condemned Piquet, 70, to a heavy fine for “collective moral damages”. The money must be paid to associations fighting against discrimination.

“Racism and homophobia are not acceptable”

Piquet made these remarks when commenting on the rivalry between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. His daughter Kelly is the companion of Verstappen, himself a world champion in 2021 and 2022.”I think people who are full of hate shouldn’t be given a platform to express themselves.“, said Lewis Hamilton, the first black driver in F1 history, at a press conference ahead of the Australian Grand Prix this weekend.

“I would like to thank the Brazilian government and I find it quite remarkable that they held someone accountable for what they said and showed that this could not be tolerated.” continued the Mercedes driver. “Racism and homophobia are not acceptable and have no place in our society and I am very happy that they have shown itNelson Piquet later apologized for his remarks, saying their aim was not to offend anyone.