Lewis Hamilton is one of the biggest stars in the sport of racing. He is – arguably – the most well-known F1 driver, and one of the richest too. He is also a Black British man living in the world, and working in a mostly white sport. Hamilton has been the victim of a lot of racist bullsh-t throughout his career, but this one hits pretty close to home. A now-retired Brazilian driver named Nelson Piquet gave an interview last year, and the video recently came to light. Piquet used the Portuguese n-word about Hamilton, basically. All hell has broken loose.
Lewis Hamilton has said “the time has come for action” after a video emerged with the three-time world champion Nelson Piquet using racist language when speaking about the British driver. Piquet used the term in an interview that was conducted last year but which was released publicly on Monday night.
Formula One and Hamilton’s Mercedes team had already condemned Piquet on Tuesday morning but Hamilton reacted with anger via Twitter, stating: “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.”
Piquet was speaking in November 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 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.
F1, which has a clear anti-racist platform under the We Race As One banner, swiftly condemned Piquet. It issued a statement that read: “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.”
[From The Guardian]
Hamilton’s main sponsor Mercedes quickly condemned Piquet’s remarks. Considering Piquet is retired, what can be done about it? I’ll admit to not really having any familiarity with F1 or how the sport is structured. Does Piquet still have business relations with F1 or F1 sponsors? If so, those should be affected starting right now. What kind of action is Hamilton asking for? A complete ban for Piquet at all F1 events? That should be done as well.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) June 28, 2022
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) June 28, 2022
Photos courtesy of Instar and Avalon Red.
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