Nelson Piquet, a three-time Formula 1 world champion, was fined five million Brazilian Reals ($953,000) for previous racist and homophobic remarks made about Lewis Hamilton.
In 2021 at the height of the F1 season that would determine the championship, Piquet used a racist and homophobic slur to refer to seven-time world champion Hamilton when he talked about a crash with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Verstappen is also currently dating Piquet’s daughter Kelly Piquet.
Lewis Hamilton. Source
Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team, and the F1 governing body the FIA all condemned the remarks and wanted to change ‘archaic mindsets’ when the interview was spread around social media last June. Piquet is also not allowed into the f1 paddock again after these remarks were made.
Piquet apologized to Hamilton last June and says that his comments were mistranslated. Below is his apology:
“What I said was ill thought out, and I make no defense for it. But I will clarify that the term used is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend. I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour. I apologize wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct. Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect.”
This is not the first occurrence of Piquet using offensive language to refer to Hamilton, when in a podcast he talked about Hamilton losing the 2016 world championship using another racist slur.
The PR problem is that there actually really is not a problem. This sport messes up a lot and has a lot of PR disasters and struggles, but this is one of the best things that has happened for the sport. This action shows that the F1 community will not stand for racism and homophobia, especially against the best driver in the world. There were lots of talks about if Piquet would get fined or if F1 would drop the situation, but I am so happy that they didn’t drop this. This is so important and affects so many people, including fans who are people of color and are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, that they have a place in F1. Between the fine and the paddock ban, I think F1 is doing the right thing to punish these unacceptable actions.