Six-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton reacted on Tuesday June 28 to racist remarks by former Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet concerning him. “These are more than words. These archaic mentalities must change and have no place in our sport“, tweeted the Briton. “Behaviors like this have surrounded and targeted me all my life. There’s been time to learn, now is the time for action“, added the driver of the Mercedes team.
In an interview from November 2021, Piquet spoke about “little black” (“neguinho” in Portuguese) when he brought up Hamilton, referring to an incident involving Briton and Dutchman Max Verstappen in the first round of the 2021 British Grand Prix.”The little black guy put his car in and left it because there was no way he could pass two cars on that bend“, had declared Piquet, father of the partner of Verstappen, in this video interview granted to the site Motorsports.com.
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. Time has come for action.
—Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) June 28, 2022
As the case escalated, Piquet said in a press release on Wednesday. “I sincerely apologize to everyone affected including Lewis who is an amazing pilot, wrote the 69-year-old former pilot, who wanted to measure his words. “What I said was poorly thought out and I do not defend myself against it, but I want to clarify that the term used is a term that has historically been used in the Brazilian Portuguese language as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person ‘ and that it was never intended to offend.” The triple F1 world champion is already a controversial figure in his country, he who is one of the supporters of far-right head of state Jair Bolsonaro.
Piquet’s exit was condemned by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and Formula 1, the organizer of the F1 World Championship. “Discriminatory or racist comments are unacceptable in any form and have no place in society.“, reacted Formula 1 in a press release sent to AFP.
Hamilton was heavily involved in the “Black Lives Matter” movement in 2020. On his initiative, some drivers took a knee before the races as a sign of support, and the color of Mercedes single-seaters changed from gray to black until at the end of the 2021 season. The Briton will return home this weekend for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.