The stumbling block are statements by the now 69-year-old Brazilian from November 2021, in which he racially denigrated Hamilton as “negrinho”. In a statement on Tuesday, the racing series condemned discriminatory language as “unacceptable in any form”.
Probably referring to Piquet’s interview with a Brazilian portal, Hamilton tweeted in Portuguese on Tuesday: “Let’s focus on changing this mindset.”
In another tweet, the Brit explained: “These are outdated views that need to change and have no place in our sport.” Hamilton wrote that such attitudes surrounded him all his life and made him a target. “It was enough time to learn. Now it’s time to act.”
Nested in the family
The background to Piquet’s derogatory statements was the accident between the Mercedes driver and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen at the Silverstone race a year ago. According to Piquet, a mistake by Hamilton was the reason for Verstappen’s departure. Piquet talks about how Hamilton placed his car, reducing it to the color of his skin, calling Hamilton “negrinho”, a little black boy. Side note: Nelson Piquet is the father of Verstappen’s partner Kelly Piquet.
“We condemn any use of racist and discriminatory language of any kind,” said Mercedes. Hamilton is leading the sport’s fight against racism and is a “true champion of diversity on and off the track”.
The world association FIA also emphasized its solidarity with the seven-time world champion and condemned racism – also without directly naming Piquet. Hamilton was “an incredible ambassador for our sport and deserves respect,” it said.
A year after the controversial Silverstone incident, Formula 1 returns to the UK for the tenth round of the season at the weekend.
Source: Nachrichten
