Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Miami International Autodrome, 2022

‘This has no place in our sport’: Hamilton condemns Piquet’s racist comment

2022 F1 season

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Lewis Hamilton has called for action to be taken to tackle racism after F1, the FIA and his Mercedes team condemned a discriminatory comment made about him by his fellow world champion Nelson Piquet.

The comment was made in an interview during 2021 which came to wider attention on social media last week. While discussing the collision between Hamilton and Max Verstappen at last year’s British Grand Prix, Piquet used a racially offensive Portuguese expression in reference to the Mercedes driver.

Hamilton said the remark was typical of abuse he had received throughout his career.

“It’s more than language,” he said in a statement on social media. “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 won the world championship with Brabham in 1981 and 1983, and again with Williams in 1987. One of his sons, Nelson Piquet Jnr, finished runner-up to Hamilton in the 2006 GP2 (now Formula 2) championship.

F1 strongly criticised Piquet’s choice of words. “Discriminatory or racist language is unacceptable in any form and has no part in society,” it said in response to an enquiry from RaceFans.

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“Lewis is an incredible ambassador for our sport and deserves respect. [Hamilton’s] tireless efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are a lesson to many and something we are committed to at F1.”

Piquet made the comment in an interview last year
Hamilton’s Mercedes team also pointed to the driver’s efforts to promote diversity within motorsport through the Hamilton Commission which he launched in 2020.

“We condemn in the strongest terms any use of racist or discriminatory language of any kind,” said a team spokesperson when asked by RaceFans.

“Lewis has spearheaded our sport’s efforts to combat racism, and he is a true champion of diversity on and off track. Together, we share a vision for a diverse and inclusive motorsport, and this incident underlines the fundamental importance of continuing to strive for a brighter future.”

The FIA also issued a statement after Piquet’s comments were reported. “The FIA strongly condemns any racist or discriminatory language and behaviour, which have no place in sport or wider society,” it said. “We express our solidarity with Lewis Hamilton and fully support his commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in motor sport.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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180 comments on “‘This has no place in our sport’: Hamilton condemns Piquet’s racist comment”

  1. Disgusting, just disgusting…

    1. It is disgusting.

      But why are we hearing about it now? I wonder.
      just before the British GP.

      thougths about this are eqaully disgusting.

      1. Apparently the interview only aired recently (according to the article about it in the Gaurdian).

        1. I want to see Max speak out with the same forceful language. Itll be interesting considering he’s dating Kelly Piquet, who’s grown up in that environment, and he’s condemning the father of his gf.

      2. Looking at other publication, although the interview was RECORDED last year, most say the video was published on Monday, i.e. yesterday, and that quotes from it were used on Twitter, which is why it has come to light now. What I also found from other articles is that Piquet’s daughter is Max Verstappen’s girlfriend. Never knew that. It does mean though that his opinion is likely to be more that of a father-in-law than that of an expert race driver.

      3. Ah yes, ‘some friends’ and an urban dictionary entry that clearly says it can be used as an offensive term.

        I’m convinced… /s

      4. Great point!

      5. This is why below:just in time to give Red Bull a racist boost.
        While in reality,Vips was simply not up to Red Bull standards,Red Bull ,just in time,appears to be addressing convincingly racism?
        Beautiful and perfect timing,good job Red B :
        https://www.racefans.net/2022/06/28/red-bull-drop-vips-from-junior-team-over-use-of-racial-slur/

    2. Disgusting it is.

      But why now? Just before the British gp this is brought to our attention.
      Something he said a year ago.

      The timing of this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

      1. Raymond Pang
        28th June 2022, 14:09

        Why does the timing matter? Does it matter if it was dug up by somebody to stir trouble? The point is that Nelson Piquet Snr is being called out, and quite rightly so.

        And putting that aside, you don’t think it’s quite possible that with the 2022 British Grand Prix coming up, somebody might’ve listened to the podcast about the 2021 British Grand Prix recently, been offended and decided to call it out?

        The “bitter taste” in your mouth is a complete triviality compared to the foul stench of what Piquet Snr comes out with.

        1. The timing does matter. It could mean that someone knew about this and kept it in the drawer until it would be favorable for them to shine a light on the matter. It leaves a sense that this was highlighted for a reason other than to expose racist language and / or actions. If this is the case, then this is more or less politics and not a genuine intention to prevent racist comments in the future.

          1. And why does the intention of the publisher matter? Can you please focus on the actual issue here?

          2. Timing only matters if you support Piquet’s comment. Is “timing matters” the new thing you right wing nuts have been told to trot out whenever someone calls out your racism or whatever?

          3. Please. Focus on the topic at hand.

        2. Timing matters
          The comment was made if off season I guess. It was bought out just for British gp is like.

          You hit your classmate at age 40 for the behaviour he had done in your school.

          This sounds as silly and manipulated. They just brought out now to get maximum attention and click bait.

          To me this sounds more ridiculous than the comment itself. People using the timing to make fuss about a comment , mean they actually don’t give two spoons about racism and act as they give 10 spoons about it.

          1. I’ve heard “timing matters” now 10 times. I guess this is racist’s new dog whistle.

          2. Raymond Pang
            28th June 2022, 20:24

            “You hit your classmate at age 40 for the behaviour he had done in your school.”

            Unbelievably contrived. You are comparing a comment made some months ago by a 69 year old man with a 40 year old’s actions about 80% of his life ago?

    3. He should’ve picked other bad words, the one that no one can say devalues his argument which in the heat of the moment is not only most sincere as is 100% correct. Piquet never minced his words though. Surprised this one took a year to surface.

      1. Seems i missed that and i see not what he said here so this is a nonesense article as this is from 2021 and had not any reaction then……
        Just delete this article as it does nothing, strange sudenly it comes up?

        1. Shows nothing? It shows an F1 legend, who should no better using a racial slur.

          In fairness, I’m not bothered one bit. I find it amusing that Lewis seems to be upsetting the old codgers of F1 and as they say ‘things come in 3’s’ maybe that’s it after the other Stewart and Ecclestone funny criticisms.

          1. It’s assuredly not a racial slur. That’s what british and American media have been saying all day. Well, most of them anyway. Some have actually tried to research what the word Piquet used meant. It’s astonishing the degree to which media outlets jump on a bandwagon when it’s convenient.

    4. Boudi, foul as that is, it would now appear that Rodrigo Piquet and Kelly Piquet have inflamed the situation further, with the former posting on Instragram to try and justify the use of such epithets (and making the situation worse by making the terms even more racist), with Kelly Piquet proceeding to like and support Rodrigo’s post. https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/vmmxzt/rodrigo_piquet_instagram_post/

    5. First of all i am against racism and many do not realise they are a racist or realise acting as one, that’s a big problem.. What did he say exactly?

    6. Except in the context he used it, it clearly didn’t mean “pal” or “fam” or “bro”. He used it to refer to Hamilton only not Verstappen who he has a familiar relationship with so why not use the allegedly friendly term to describe his daughters boyfriend? I think the argument that he was using an innocent term of endearment is gaslighting and exactly the snide sort of behaviour Piquet is infamous for.

    7. so he was being nice, at the exact same time he was laying into LH for the crash at the British GP? as you said, you take words in context of the convo, was clearly meant as an insult.

  2. Well, I am actually glad those comments did not get picked up widely at the time – they deserve no airtime.

    Very sad to keep sing some people in this world, and some F1 people I would like to be able to respect fall into such stupid tropes of hatred against others. I guess Piquet, his fans (and maybe Max and fans of Max and Red Bull, since his daughter dates Max?) and off course in due time BE will defend it by going back to how unfair the Silverstone accident was. But that is no excuse for racism at all.

    1. I guess it just goes to show the common mistake we make as people – we think a hero in one aspect has to be a hero in all aspects of life, and an example to look up to in all respects and forever. But most often that is not the case. They are still human, after-al and have flaws, make mistakes, and sometimes learn and grow, but other times do not.

      It is good that both the sport immediately when this was brought up condemned it. I hope that was the last we hear of it.

      1. Well, if you followed Piquet during his career, he wasn’t a hero at all.
        He was just horrible person, shouting abuse about drivers families.

        1. Indeed. This is the man who called Mansell “an uneducated blockhead”, called Enzo Ferrari “senile” and Ayrton Senna “gay”. Also the man who defended his son who had deliberately crashed his car to benefit Alonso. Big friend of Bolsanaro as well, just to complete the set…
          Hard to believe he might have any ‘fans’.

          1. He is still a sports hero to many though SadF1fan. Either because they don’t know of all the things @mrfill mentions (i found it worse how he actually went into calling his own son gay for giving into the pressure at the same time as defending the team to make it happen), or they do not care.

            Or actually they like all that stuff, seeing how politicians like Bolsanaro get elected, I guess.

        2. I agree with all of that. But it needs to be clarified that what Piquet said wasn’t a racial slur and this is all a massive overraction because english speaking media couldn’t put minimum effort into understanding what Piquet actually said

          1. Who gets to decide if/when a racist slur is a racist slur? Shall we let the racists decide?

          2. I have seen enough Brazillians comment on it to know you are wrong there @ajpennypacker.

          3. @khurtwilliams I can tell you who doesn’t get to decide: people from a different culture who can’t even speak the language and have no clue about cultural context.

            This public character lynching is evocative of the days of colonialism, when Britain would punish people for doing things that were normal in their culture but Brits considered that it violated their social norms.

            Britain or America don’t get to dictate how Brazilians speak and regulate their own language. I find it appaling that in the pursuit of equality of the races, they trio themselves over with this kind of ethnocentrist attitude

      2. @BasCB
        He is a person that won 3 championships.
        The term hero gets applied far too quickly for athletes.

    2. petebaldwin (@)
      28th June 2022, 11:06

      In some ways, it would be nice if it was given no airtime but it’s also important this sort of thing is called out. You can’t just get away with blatant racism like that.

      1. That is quite right @petebaldwin, no one should get away with that kind of stuff.

    3. So if your father in law does something very stupid or worse, you have to pay the price for it as well? I am a Max fan and condome the racist terms as well. But i will not hold the opion of 1 person against people that have not sad it or are related to the person. If we go that path we can exclude almost half the world from being human.

      1. It takes one sentence for Max’s team and/or Red Bull to also condemn it. Silence can be deafening…

        1. Well, let’s see whether team or driver are asked over the weekend and what they’ll answer to settle that right @optimaximal (yeah, I think our expectations are similarly low here but even so).

          1. I’ll be amazed if Max isn’t asked at every press conference!! Let’s be honest it’s the least keenly anticipated Silverstone in years – so the journos will love this.

        2. Silence is everyone’s right, and does not infer anything at all.

          1. Firstly, that seems in direct contradiction to the opinion of many Max fans when Lewis went offline between last season and this. I won’t say that I’m certain that you were one of those calling him out on it, and I can’t be bothered to look back right now, but I have a vague recollection that you criticised him for it. It’s a very vague memory, so if you didn’t then I take it back for you, personally, but there were certainly a large number of Max fans who openly and vehemently criticised his silence.

            Secondly, in this case, silence does infer something. If you have a family member, friend or colleague you have strongly supported, publicly praised, in the past who then does something bad, saying nothing implies that they still have your support and praise. This is the same as if your fans do something bad “in your name”, and you don’t criticise it, it gives tacit approval and encouragement to repeat the bad behaviour.

          2. I can say for certain, @drmouse, that I am not a ‘Max fan’ – and I probably did make some reference about Hamilton’s silence along with a lot of other people, but that’s my choice.
            Hamilton’s silence was ultimately for Hamilton’s reasons – and 3rd party opinions on it are nothing but conjecture.

            Secondly, in this case, silence does infer something. If you have a family member, friend or colleague you have strongly supported, publicly praised, in the past who then does something bad, saying nothing implies that they still have your support and praise.

            That’s only your interpretation.
            They are not showing that they either condone it nor condemn it. They are not doing anything either way.

            I think we should let people have their own feelings about things rather than impose our own assumptions on them, and certainly not use those assumptions to speak for them.
            If they support something, let’s wait until they explicitly say so before we criticise them for it, yeah?

          3. Perhaps you’ve read.

            “ First they came for the Communists
            And I did not speak out
            Because I was not a Communist

            Then they came for the Socialists
            And I did not speak out
            Because I was not a Socialist

            Then they came for the trade unionists
            And I did not speak out
            Because I was not a trade unionist

            Then they came for the Jews
            And I did not speak out
            Because I was not a Jew

            Then they came for me
            And there was no one left
            To speak out for me.”

          4. Silence is indeed a right, but it can also infer opinion. Max is not known for holding back his words, he criticises pretty much everyone and has an opinion about everything. He shouts very loudly about most things and is very rarely silent… If he was mostly silent about things then you could not infer an opinion about those things. However if he is loudly shouting out about the majority of things and then stays silent on this then of course you can infer an opinion.

          5. Silence is indeed a right, but it can also infer opinion.

            No it can’t, Lee1.
            Any inference is in the receiver’s mind, and there alone.

        3. @optimaximal Where is your outrage for Williams Racing? Nelson actually raced for that team and has a much stronger connection to that team than he has with RBR but until now we haven’t heard anything from Williams Racing on this matter as well but somehow that gets overlooked?

        1. Totally different situation.

          Are you really telling us that Max will shrug his shoulders at someone using the ‘n’ word?

          1. Davethechicken
            28th June 2022, 14:16

            Nope, i just wouldn’t expect any comment from him or red bull as others had suggested.

    4. “I guess Piquet, his fans (and maybe Max and fans of Max will defend it by going back to how unfair the Silverstone accident was”

      I’m a Max fan but in no way I defend racism so please stop generalising.

      1. Right. Sorry @jamesbond. I redid that line a few times and had “some fans” in there, it would have been better to keep it in there to avoid generalising like that. You are right to call me out on that mistake.

        1. No problem BasCB. Thanks for clarifying.

      2. I don’t support any racist and certain i don’t like Nelson Piquet but support Max.

      3. @jamesbond unfortunately, there are some Verstappen fans who, rather than criticising Piquet, are attacking those in the press who reported on the story and are engaging in the sort of behaviour that poster feared might happen.

        Those doing so are, in a number of instances, throwing xenophobic abuse at the “evil British press”, whom they blame for reporting on the story – even though many of the original complaints originated in the Brazilian press and it was a group of Brazilian journalists who began bringing the complaints to an international audience.

        Sadly, there is a part of Max’s fan base which does subscribe to the mentality that BasCB highlights and which is engaging in that sort of abusive behaviour – but, at the same time, individuals like yourself who criticise such behaviour and try to stop it from spreading do deserve to be recognised for that and do not deserve to be lumped in with that more toxic group.

        1. RedBull/Max fan here. It’s absolutely shocking what Piquet said. He is an F1 world champion and should forever be an ambassador for the sport and the modern world should have no place for people like him.

        2. Coventry Climax
          28th June 2022, 19:24

          The article does not say what exactly has been said. (I don’t care and take RF’s word for it that is was racist, and should not have been said in the first place.)
          But: the article spends one sentence on what Piquet has said, and than rambles on about how heroic and what a fantastic role model Hamilton is. So the objective of the article is more to highlight Sir Hamiltons Holyness, than to condemn Piquet’s remarks. Which I condemn.

    5. Coventry Climax
      28th June 2022, 19:17

      @BasCB: Sorry, but that’s a silly remark, about RB and Max fans defending it, given Juri Vips has just been dismissed by RB for racist remarks.
      You’re trying to find antagonisme where there isn’t. Preference for one team or driver over another team or driver has nothing to do with racism, racist remarks, the way they are dealt with or who or which team comments on it.
      Unless you’re trying to actually promote antagonism/racism that is.

      1. I do not think so Coventry Climax. The comments section has already shown those are exactly the groups of people that are a large part of the people trying to tell us this is just hype, unfair, this was not racism etc.

        Yes, I should have probably put more of an emphasis on SOME of those fans doing this, but sadly the expectation was rather on point.

        I really find it sad how all too many people let their sympathies guide them to ignore really bad things, even despite knowing better.

  3. Chris Horton
    28th June 2022, 10:44

    Disgusting.

    1. Do you actually know the meaning of the word Piquet used? I don’t think so. Try and ask a Brazilian what that word means. It’s absolutely a lie that it’s a racial slur

      1. Chris Horton
        28th June 2022, 18:34

        Educate me. I’m assuming you’re Brazilian?

        1. It basically means bloke, chap, dude, pal, or like saying fam. That’s it. It’s used by all races when addressing any race.

          Simple as that.

          It’s frustrating to see people denouncing racism while demonstrating ethnocentrist attitudes about Brazil. Europe or America don’t get to decide what words in Portuguese mean to Brazilians, or tell what’s, right and what’s wrong.

          What is disgusting is the lack of thorough reporting on the issue. I’ve only seen one publication acknowledge the true nature of the word. But unfortunately these days, it’s damn near a death sentence to say anything but condemn someone accused (merely accused) of racism.

          1. Chris Horton
            29th June 2022, 19:04

            Hearing the tone and context it was said in would help settle debate. Looking at the word he used written down, it certainly looks derogatory and racist to me.

  4. So the moral of the story is: Say anything you like, just don’t say it out loud.
    If you say it publicly, someone’s bound to drag it up 6 months later and use it to discredit you.

    1. Or you know, just don’t be a piece of…

      1. Nobody is, until they are.
        Except those who think they are morally superior.

    2. Nobody is “using this to discredit” anyone S. It was Mr. Piquet himself who discredited himself on broadcast.

      That it wasn’t picked up and condemned at the time does not mean he didn’t say it.

      1. “I guess Piquet, his fans (and maybe Max and fans of Max and Red Bull, since his daughter dates Max?) and off course in due time BE will defend it by going back to how unfair the Silverstone accident was.”

        Nobody is using this to discredit anyone, huh? @bascb

      2. More importantly, what Piquet said wasn’t a racial slur at all. It’s shocking how the media have picked this story up without even doing rudimentary research. It most definitely does not mean the n-word. It’s not a word used to refer to black people alone. It’s not inherently racial, and it’s not even usually used in an offensive context. It’s informal language to say bloke, make, dude, or pal.

        What we’re seeing in this comment’s section is manufactured hysteria and opportunism by the media to run a story that will get a lot of eyeballs. At least Racefans didn’t go as far as suggeting that Piquet used the n-word

          1. I don’t see what’s funny. What’s you and western media in general, are doing is called ethnocentrism. You’re trying to tell Brazilians what words in their language means merely because of your own ignorant preconceptions acquired in your own culture.

            You don’t get to tell Brazil how to interpret their own language. Maybe it’s a British thing… The heritage do colonialism. Although, if you, look the way your avatar picture shows, I’d expect you to understand what I’m telling you better than most.

            I find the condescending laughter insulting and hypocritical

    3. petebaldwin (@)
      28th June 2022, 12:24

      Funny that though – I say anything I want and I say it out loud. I often publish my thoughts on here where I can’t delete it and I don’t have a username – it’s just my name. I’ve never had any issues though…. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a racist?

      Maybe, just maybe, the moral of the story is don’t be racist and that if you are, people will expose you for it…?

      1. Good for you, @petebaldwin. I’ve never said anything racist here either – though some users have imposed that interpretation because they have a different opinion to mine.
        Racism isn’t just saying a word, though. Racism is the motivation and reasoning behind it – and in this case, only Piquet knows that.

        1. I’m not offended by a racist word and actually think people are too easily labelled as ‘racists’. We need to point the finger at those who actually use discriminatory practices.

          Piquet, has always been odious. One of the reasons I’ve never let a racist bother me is because they are nearly always ‘sexist’, ‘sizeist’ etc – as we found with him, when he once insulted Mansell’s wife.

          I find the whole episode amusing. All he, Ecclestone and Stewart have done in recent days, is make themselves look small minded. Heck! Bernie made some good points, but the way he made them immediately bought Hamilton sympathy.

          1. @banbrorace calling every driver by his name, except one, sounds odd. If that driver is instead called using a racist word, I don’t think it’s too far fetched to call Piquet racist in this case.

          2. @warheart On this occasion, I don’t disagree. But like a said, he’s every ‘ism’ going!!

          3. @banbrorace I live in Brazil and the problem with Piquet and the term he used is its racial and social implications within the country, diminishing someone far superior to himself as a driver because of his colour. (I won’t report the term but it’s a diminutive of the Portuguese term for black, used exclusively to disparage with none of the ‘affection’ so often claimed for such terms in South America.) When you ally Piquet’s insult with his pro-Bolsonaro politics, it becomes far more sinister and connects to the kind of racial-ethnic ‘cleansing’ this pro-militia political faction supports against black populations in favelas or against indigenous people and quilombola communities in the rest of the country. It’s not just talk.

        2. If you fling racist words around then it’s a good chance you’re racist. That’s kinda how this works.

          1. Everything has context, @davidhunter13.
            Not all ‘racist words’ have only one way of being used – nor do they mean the same thing to everyone, in every situation.

            But it’s okay – you keep thinking that you know what everyone means and they don’t.

          2. @davidhunter13 tell that to 50 cent or any other rapper.

    4. Personally I think the moral of the story is not “Say anything you like, just don’t say it out loud.” but “Say anything you like and say it out loud.”

      I would much rather know if someone is a racist than if they hide behind some fake veneer. Being American, we have a history of racists in white hoods who would be civil when not hiding their identities, but when their identities were hidden from public view would they express their true abhorrent, racist thoughts.

      Remove the hoods so I can see who they really are and condemn them publicly.

      1. @g-funk well said.

        If he’s saying this publicly, we can probably safely assume it wasn’t his first time.

  5. Sadly it’s not the first time, and probably won’t be the last. F1 is really poor for diversity, it always has been. It’s amazing that people like Hamilton are trying to change that, but sadly there are always an element who will try and resist it. The fact Hamilton is the only black driver ever in F1 and yet is the most successful is truly remarkable, and how incredible he has been.
    Hopefully change comes, how many boys and girls could have potentially been good enough for F1 or even world champion but never got the funding or opportunity to prove it because they didn’t come from privilege.

    1. @burden93 Hamilton isn’t the only black driver ever in F1, he is hands down one of the best and easily the one of the most successful and prominent drivers of all time.

      But I remember other black drivers, before, during Lewis and for sure there will be others after him.

      Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandrok.

      1. @jasonj South Asians aren’t Black.

      2. Lol some of these guys can’t help themselves hey. Sometimes it’s better to remain silent.

        1. It’s about the systemic injustices faced by certain peoples and their previous generations, which continues to put newer generations at a disadvantage more often than not.

  6. It’s so hard to “respect your elders” when they’re stuck in the past culturally. Unfortunately I’ve heard the same or worse from many of this generation. Fault also lies with the interviewer and broadcaster, who just listens to someone say something inherently racist and doesn’t follow up with “that’s not right to call him that” let alone ignore and air it.

    1. This isn’t a generational thing, older generations weren’t more racist and younger ones magically less racist. I think the racist count is probably the same, some people are just bad people. Piquet has always been a bit of a scumbag, he’s just not listened to very often anymore.

      1. By the standards of the time, I agree that the previous generation were probably no more racist than the present.

        However, standards have changed, and not all from previous generations have accepted that change. Therefore, their behaviour and attitudes are considered discriminatory and bigoted by todays standards.

        How you judge whether they themselves are and/or have become intrinsically racist, or are just thoughtless and/or stubborn in their unwillingness to adapt their behaviour, I leave as an exercise for others.

      2. I wouldn’t say people are magically less racist, there has been a global movement for change for generations now. Which a lot of elders simply disregard.

        People have worked very hard to fight for and enact that change. There’s nothing magical about it.

      3. There was far more racism around when I was 6 than this is, now I’m 60.

        That’s to be expected. Society allowed these norms, in the same way they thought it OK for women not to have the voted.

        We’ve all moved on, including that generation – but of course there will always be exceptions.

        1. I think there are pockets of extremism, but I’m pushing 50 and unfortunately I’m seeing more racists on the ground now than when I grew up, it could be that I’ve moved and found myself in a ‘hotspot.’ Although it’s probably 1 in 30 people that I encounter, but it is there.

  7. One thing these statements do not do, is name piquet, or say that using a slur against someone is a racist thing to do per se; instead they talk about Hamilton merits, which is okay in itself, but it shouldn’t be the point that he’s too good a guy to be racist to it seems to me. They also don’t ask for anything to be done or changed to help prevent others from being racist. So they are in themselves a bit underwhelming for an issue that apparently goes back to a November interview that resurfaced now.

    1. Yep. I do not understand what Hamilton’s credentials have to do with it.

      Address the racist. Not the victim.

  8. Piquet’s always had a habit of opening his mouth before putting his brain in gear, if anyone remembers what he said back in the day about Ayrton Senna, Rosanne Mansell and Enzo Ferrari.

    Never liked him as a driver or a person.

  9. I saw on another place from a Brazilian native that the reason it didn’t get picked up at the time as it was a Brazilian interview in Portuguese & that the particular Portuguese term he used isn’t necessarily considered a controversial phrase depending on how it’s used as it’s something that can have multiple meanings and something that is used quite freely in Brazil.

    This particular commenter was of the view that Nelson was actually been misrepresented as his interpretation of the word as used in the sentence was been mis-translated.

    But as I am not Brazilian & don’t speak Portuguese I have no idea how accurate or not this is, Just thought i’d post to see if somebody more familiar with the language/culture etc.. could confirm or deny this.

    1. Hi Peter, as a Brazilian and native speaker, I understand your comment, that the n word in Brazilian Portuguese can be used in more contexts, and may not be as strong as the English equivalent. Older people are more used to say it, for example when talking about an unknown person, telling a story where you don’t know the names of the involved. But it won’t apply to this situation, and also it doesn’t mean it’s ok. It’s always been racist and should never be used, especially in the last 2 years with all the recent campaigns. Piquet used racist language, maybe anchored in institutional racism, but this behaviour should be condemned regardless.

      1. @lubhz

        Thanks for clarifying this.
        In my native language the “N” word is not a derogatory term (it is not common to use it, though). Instead, calling someone “black” in my language is considered by some to be offensive.

      2. @lubhz Thank you!

      3. @lubhz Living in Brazil too, I’d say the diminutive, N-inho, spoken by someone who isn’t black, is never anything other than dismissive at some level. Certainly in Piquet’s case the insult was quite intentional. Other variants can be pronounced with affection, depending on the people involved, their age group and the region of Brazil. I’m totally repulsed and saddened by this story. Brazil is like the UK in many respects, going backwards under (far) right rule.

        1. Britain isn’t under ‘far right’ rule. If people bother to look into politics Johnson is more left wing than Thatcher or Cameron.

          I don’t know where this ‘far right’ reputation, with the UK is coming from. Just because we vocal idiots on social media and we hear about more incidents, doesn’t mean it’s more prevalent. We just hear more about.

          I’ve been to several countries for weeks or more and by far and away I find the UK the least racist – but that doesn’t mean to say there is no racism.

          1. Unfortunately, right-wing and far-right have ended up with multiple meanings, as have left-wing and far-left.

            Economically, in its original meaning, BoJo and the current government are to the left of Thatcher and Cameron. It may be that this is because of the pandemic and the specific circumstances recently, but it is true as things stand.

            However, especially when it comes to the phrase “far right”, it has come to be more associated with racism, discrimination, and hatred. The view that places ones self and ones own group as superior to all others. This is why Hitler and the Nazi Party are described as the “far right”, even though their economic policies were pretty centrist, even slightly left-wing.

            In this way, the current UK government can definitely be seen as more right wing than many. BoJo himself has been blaming foreigners for the countries troubles for most of his career, and this has only increased during his time in government. Heck, he’s even shipping legitimate asylum seekers who are fleeing oppressive governments off to a country where you risk imprisonment for speaking out against the oppressive government… So, by this meaning, the country is under a more right-wing rule than it has had for many decades, at least.

    2. Yeah it’d be interesting if someone here was familiar with Brazilian Portuguese who can maybe elaborate on the context?

      Regardless, Nelson speaks a couple of languages and will know that referencing someone’s race in such circumstances is both irrelevant and uncalled for.

      Lewis isn’t my favourite driver in the world, but he is a fantastic champion and ambassador for the sport. I can’t imagine how disheartening it must be to wake up and read that about yourself.

      1. He was having a bit of a rant about the incident. The slur was actually worse, because it was said to condemn someone as opposed to say it been used as a light hearted slang term (which is obviously wrong as well)

        As I said, the only surprise when it comes to Piquet, is that anyone’s surprised by this.

      2. @bernasaurus See above. There’s no way Piquet’s expression can be spun as anything other than intentionally derogatory (recalling the attempt of Suarez to do so when he used a similar Spanish term for Patrice Evra).

  10. While we must jot accept racial attacks in any form. We should also look at the age of the person. Their generation is a different (not accepting) one. The times they are a changing. But sadly not every1 moves with the times.

    1. Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
      28th June 2022, 12:21

      Piquet has always been an ass. Just look up what he said about Enzo Ferrari, Mansell or Senna

    2. Correct. It’s great that virtually everyone commenting on this (and it’s had nearly 80 responses in barely three hours) is condemning the slur.

      We are a lot less racist as a society (certainly in the UK) but of course it will never be perfect

  11. First of all, what did he say? You write an article about people condemning someone for alleged words that you don’t even mention. Talk about misinformation… Nice try, but I won’t be manipulated.

    Second, Piquet is Brazilian and he speaks Portuguese. As a native speaker myself, I know that there are terms that might seem racist if you are a foreigner doing a literal translation, expecting the same meaning as in your native language. It could well be that he didn’t mean at all to be racist, and just used local expression or slang, and I would be surprised if he really meant to, because he’s a 3-time world champion and must have nothing but respect for 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. At the very least I give him the benefit of doubt until I hear exactly what he said.

    Last but not least, why dig out something that is already one year old? Why is it relevant now? To me this sounds like people searching for reasons to be upset about.

    1. It was the N word in Portuguese with used in the diminutive form Andre. From people who watched the footage it was pretty clear that there was rather more of the disrespect and will to be at least insulting (as he has been to his fellow F1 champions in the past, including Senna, Mansell and others) than actual respect for a driver who achieved far more in F1 than he himself.

      Let’s also not forget the language he used about his own son when crashgate came out. It is pretty clear that Mr. Piquet, while deserving recognition for his achievements on track, deserves less of our respect for how he behaves himself otherwise.

      1. Ah atlast we do know what was happening. I am not a native portugese speaker so i have it take like the English and the N- isn’t good to say about Lewis and is viewed as racist …

    2. I suggest you’re the one who needs to watch as it’s you who clearly doesn’t understand what’s happened and hence it’s hilarious you can moan about “misinformation”.

    3. Total nonsense Andre. You know full well you can’t call someone N-inho in the context of a public interview on a fellow racing driver and not mean it negatively.

      1. Since when? There’s never been such rule. Stop inventing bs. Piquet was never a poet. He always spoke his mind.

        1. Which means he’s pretty dumb then, if he can’t communicate without insulting people – which he has history of doing.

        2. No there’s no ‘rule,’ there’s a series of social etiquettes and customs surrounding language use by which speakers in a community guide their behaviour. That also includes social pressure on some historically marginalised groups to accept generic or belittling descriptions of themselves, labels, from socially dominant groups (past or present). You know full well that the language Piquet used wouldn’t be acceptable on say Globo’s F1 coverage. Piquet thought he was safe to use a code term that would unite his listeners in agreement about the bad driving of the ‘little black guy’. And to dismiss another argument I’ve read here, it wasn’t the lapse of an old man with memory failure: he says n-inho, then Hamilton’s name, then n-inho. He had no trouble remembering the name of the driver he wanted to deindividualise and dehumanize to make his point. An honest admission it was wrong and an apology from Piquet would clear this up.

  12. Piquet needs to be banned from the paddock. “Strong condemnations” mean nothing to someone like that.

    1. Banned? Because of one word, a year ago? A bit excessive don’t you think?

      1. Bit like his choice of words to use. If he showed remorse and apologised then I would agree it would be aggressive to ban him from the paddock. Though it looks like he won’t and the silence from the Red Bull camp, especially after the Vips incident, speaks louder than the words Piquet Sr spoke. We race as one going to be put to the test on this one it seems.

  13. Michael from Australia
    28th June 2022, 13:00

    This is disgusting. I really wish these things didn’t happen or get said anymore.

    Unfortunately, I see it first hand that these things are sometimes generational. My father (who now has a brain injury) sometimes says some very racist things and doesn’t bat an eyelid on the socially inappropriate things he says. I only hope that one day he does not same them in public and offend someone who does not know the situation of him being partially disabled.

    Piquet should know better however and racism has no place in our culture in 2022.

  14. Well, I did not read the comments, and have to say that I am not surprised: Nelson is just a horrible person.

    1. I just heard the interview. Piquet is despicable guy.

  15. Absolutely disgusted by this racist behavior, no excuse at all.

    On another important note, why did the media pick up on his interview right now? A few days before the British GP weekend.

    One has to wonder if it is to empower or sort of justifying the fans for the highly likely booing Max and RB are going to receive.

    1. Regarding why the media (the Daily Mail…) picked this up now, I guess is because of recent episodes, like the one involving Juri Vips (suspended by Red Bull) or the insane abuse recently against Naomi Schiff (who, btw, was defended by Hamilton).

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        28th June 2022, 15:10

        The Daily Mail wouldn’t care about racism in the slightest so if they’re the ones who have brought this up, there’s definitely an agenda behind it. They spend half their time defending racists and calling people who are offended slowflakes!

    2. In addition to what Horacio mentions, i think it might also have been in the context of someone looking back to reactions to the silverstone accident last year, since the comment was made by Piquet as a reaction on a question about that accident in silverstone last year @cobray

  16. Nelson deserves punishment for his actions as there’s no need for this attitude anymore but what I don’t understand is why Hamilton got away with using Transphobic remarks towards his nephew when all derogatory remarks should be punished.

    Is race more important when it comes to “hatred” or should all hatred be treated equally?

    1. Hamilton apologised for those remarks. At the time of writing I do not believe Piquet has apologised for his.

      1. Piquet doesnt need to apologize.. go learn spanish or Portuguese, live among them, then come back and reformulate your opinion

    2. James Hale,
      You can’t compare both situations. Hamilton was mocking his nephew clothes and said “boys don’t wear princess dresses”. What’s Transphobic about that ? How is that offensive to the transgender people. Even if some are offended by that, it was clear that Hamilton’s intentions from the beginning were to make a joke about his nephew.

      Even if the joke itself was offensive which was not intentional, as mentioned by @keithcollantine Hamilton later apologized for it. I would say he was forced to apologize by the online fascists. As for Piquet, he used the n word to denigrate Hamilton which is more than enough for me to get him banned from F1. Knowing the person he has always been, I’m sure that he will never apologize for his shameful behaviour.

      1. Hamilton’s joke was offensive, no doubt about that.
        Not only to transgenders, but anyone with an open mind without gender patterns ingrained.

        Next to that, it is very bad taste and just gross to say something like that to a small child who clearly looks up to him. Such remarks can really leave a lasting impression on a child of that age. And to make matters worse he even put it online. For his own benefit, not for his nephew’s.
        (And in my humble opinion, Lewis is the last one who should say something about what somebody should wear or not)

        And please keep the term fascists for the real fascists. Indicating to Hamilton that what he said was wrong, is not fascism.

  17. You may shoot me with your words,
    You may cut me with your eyes,
    You may kill me with your hatefulness,
    But still, like air, I’ll rise.

  18. All condemnation and no action…the F1 and the FIA should immediately ban him from all forms of motorsport organised by them for the foreseeable future. Set a proper example.

    1. Neither F1 nor the FIA are the morality police.
      As if they’d be qualified even if they wanted to be.

      1. They’re the police of their own domains. Actions are needed as an example

      2. petebaldwin (@)
        28th June 2022, 17:23

        They’re exactly that as far as their events are concerned. If a driver said something racist over the radio or on the podium interview, do you expect the FIA to say “who are we to judge” and take no further action!?

        1. That’s entirely up to them, isn’t it, @petebaldwin.
          If they choose to do nothing, then that’s their choice. It does not automatically mean they support it, though.

          These days, corporations coming out and publicly condemning things is as much about their marketing image as their individual beliefs, because of exactly what I just mentioned – not saying anything at all equates to acceptance for some people. And the appearance of acceptance brings negative publicity.

          Also known as virtue signalling.

          1. Apologetic weapons grade nonsense…

          2. That’s entirely up to them, isn’t it, @petebaldwin.

            That is not actually true at all S.

            It is the FIAs DUTY to make sure that things go about in a safe and orderly way. People using slurs that are racist fall under what the sport needs to be protected from, stopping such a thing from happening, and taking steps it cannot happen again, is an obligation for any sporting authority.

            Just as it is an obligation for the broadcaster to do what they can to prevent such a comment from being broadcast – exactly the reason why they delay radio messages, to be able to beep out anything not deemed ok up front.

          3. It is the FIAs DUTY to make sure that things go about in a safe and orderly way.

            listening.
            Nobody is unsafe because of some word the big bad nasty man said 7 months earlier – a word (or its equivalent) that (probably) millions of people use every day in various situations and contexts, @bascb.
            I’ll happily admit to not knowing if the comment was made whilst at an F1 event – so unless it was, it’s just free speech in action. That includes the freedom for people to embarrass themselves.
            Even if it was, it’s still not the FIA’s issue as Piquet was only representing himself when he spoke. The media produced would not be FIA authorised or affiliated, as the FIA don’t handle F1 media. Liberty do, and they have no authority over the FIA unless the FIA want them to have it.
            The producer could theoretically have their F1 accreditation revoked, however… Notice that this site hasn’t used the word themselves….
            But then, the owner of this site is also a Hamilton fan… So take that for what it’s worth.

            The broadcaster’s primary concern is to not play anything that will get themselves or F1 in trouble.
            Even if something does slip out on broadcast – they aren’t liable for it as they are merely the carrier, not the creator. They’ll usually apologise, but it’s completely meaningless and comes with zero consequence.
            The main reason they delay team radio broadcasts is so they can sift though it to find something that is worth using for their storytelling – as most of it isn’t.

          4. Nobody is unsafe because of some word the big bad nasty man said 7 months earlier

            I would ask you to talk to people from different backgrounds before making sweeping statements like this.

            Firstly, many I have spoken to say it does make them feel unsafe to hear such discriminatory language in use. There can be a variety of reasons, but the main one people cite is that it reminds them of situations where they were unsafe. Times when they were under attack, physically or otherwise, because of their race, colour, gender, sexual preferences etc. It causes them considerable distress to hear such disgusting language being used, even in a context where it is not intended to be offensive (which does not apply to Piquet’s comments).

            In addition to this, a “celebrity”/famous person going on air and publicly using such disgusting, derogatory language without being called out empowers others to do the same. It encourages the bigots among us to become more brazen in their bigotry, which can lead to both mental and physical harm being done to people.

            This is also why staying silent is not “expressing no opinion”. By staying silent you are allowing such behaviour, and its negative effects, to continue. You may disagree with it yourself, but without coming out and publicly saying so, the two problems above are compounded. Those who are distressed by it don’t get the comfort of knowing that you find such behaviour repulsive and are on their side. Conversely, those who are emboldened by it don’t get shown how horrible you consider it, and can come to view you as being on their side, considering your silence to be support. By saying nothing, you allow whoever is listening to view you however they wish, which can be more damaging than actually coming out in support of the bigots would be.

          5. I would ask you to talk to people from different backgrounds before making sweeping statements like this.

            You think I live on a deserted island, @drmouse? Just me and my friend Wilson?
            I live in the same world you do, and no doubt deal with a comparable range of individuals. Even within my own family, groups of friends and regular acquaintances.

            This is also why staying silent is not “expressing no opinion”. By staying silent you are allowing such behaviour, and its negative effects, to continue.

            They will continue to happen whether I speak out or not.
            People have been condemning such language for decades, centuries, perhaps even the entire human history – but it remains, doesn’t it?
            Now, perhaps more than ever, a minority engage in that behaviour because of the reaction it attracts. Many others will continue to do it simply because they mean no harm by it.

            By saying nothing, you allow whoever is listening to view you however they wish, which can be more damaging than actually coming out in support of the bigots would be.

            What other people get from my response, or lack thereof, is beyond my control.
            I could just as easily be lying to them to improve my image – which would be far worse, wouldn’t it…

            The view looks much clearer from up here on the fence. I can see both sides….
            They say there is a good reason why we have two ears and only one mouth… I think that’s a pretty decent analogy for stuff like this.

          6. What other people get from my response, or lack thereof, is beyond my control.

            This is like saying “I’m great at communicating, everyone just sucks at listening”.

            If you know that something will be inferred from your silence and you stay silent, you are making the conscious choice to allow people to believe that you mean that thing. You may sit there and snicker behind your hand saying, “I know they think that, but I never said it”, thinking you’re really clever, but you have effectively said it in your silence and your prior knowledge of how that silence will be perceived.

          7. It’s not like that at all.
            If I haven’t said anything, then I haven’t said anything. To the positive or the negative.
            It is what it is. Nothing. Zero. Eff-all.

            I haven’t made any inference – it is you, the receiver, who is making an assumption.
            And as the saying goes – assumption is mother of all… mistakes.

            I’m quite content for people to think of me as someone without an opinion on a particular subject.
            Until I express one, obviously. My own – not what they think mine might be.
            Surely I have the right to not express one?

  19. Piquet, always an idiot.

  20. Time for Formula One to actually act. Not kneel, or hand out Tshirts or give limp statements about unity.

    Ban a former champion from the paddock for life and deny him air time.

    And before the usual suspects start squealing about “cancel culture”, yeah, if this is cancel culture then cancel him.

  21. Will Max say anything? Or will Max be using the excuse of “it has nothing to do with me” although this man is Max’s putative father-in-law. Or will Max be hiding behind generic, weak, non-committal statement? To this past F1 champion from Brazil, what colour do you believe you are, Piquet? White, yellow, purple, or mix? What colour do you assign yourself to if you are a Brazilian? White? Why white? For those on this site who deflect and defend this man, what gives you or anyone else the assumption that non-white is not and cannot be equal or superior than you, and deserves to be assigned derogatory label? Look at Hamilton and many other non-whites, they are superiors than you lot and certainly more superior than Piquet, not just in achievements, but also in ability not to stoop low to those not as superior as him. Do share your thoughts, on why you defend this man’s conduct, or using whatabouttism to excuse this Brazilian man?

  22. Just heard the interview. Piquet uses the term casually but quite deliberately (twice: he repeats his use of the term after using Hamilton’s name, just to make sure listeners get the message) to basically say something like ‘that little black fellow’ – who, presumably, somehow ended up out of place in Formula 1. He’s not a ‘britânico’ or ‘inglês’, which Piquet would undoubtedly use if he were talking about Button, Hill or Mansell. He’s a generic ‘black’ and also dismissable (in your dreams Piquet) hence the addition of ‘inho’, ‘little.’ It’s the kind of remark betraying a deep racism and twisted worldview, very, very far from any ‘affection’ that racist apologists will undoubtedly attempt to imply.

    1. Thank you for providing some insight into the statements and resulting controversy that was – oddly – left out of the article.

      1. No problem. It’s difficult to capture the context from a short radio clip (which is what I heard) but it sounds like something taken from a flowing conversation in which Piquet feels at ease but is being called on to justify his argument over the Silverstone collision. Reading Brazilian F1 sites over the years, fans (those leaving comments on newspaper and blog sites) are massively in favour of Hamilton in general. He’s very popular and respected. Those few – and they are few – who are hostile tend to use the N-word either in an ‘affectionately’ derogatory way or in a plainly insulting way. That’s enough for me to be able to place Piquet quite precisely. However, there’s simply no excuse for him speaking like this as a former professional in a radio interview. He owes Lewis an apology, presuming he’s capable, which I doubt.

      2. I think it is fine that this was not in the article, since the footage is not that widely available, and would be hard to interpret/judge in Portuguese for someone not that familiar with the language and culture.
        Using auto translate/auto subtitle features can get things wrong easily.

        Another thing is, it is probably also by choice not to highlight the original too much and help spread it.

        I am glad to see some people from Brazil like @david-br get into the discussion and do the interpreting for us.

  23. Probably more of a comment on the poor quality of reporting over the last few years, but i’ve learned to look up exactly what was said and in what context before a make a judgement on these kinds of stories. It’s not hard to find and in this case, screw that guy, there’s no way to justify what he said in any way.

  24. For what it’s worth, the interview is not one year old. It is about an incident that is one year old (Silverstone 2021) but the interview itself was conducted later in the year. I’m pointing this out because I see a bunch of comments arguing about it being a year old and that is false. But that is not very important in the overall scheme of things. Neither is the “timing” important – who cares if it surfaced now or any other time? How does anyone even talk about these non-issues? All that is deflecting from the issue which is that one of the sport’s champions is racist towards the only black champion ever. Like many others, I’m not surprised but still it hurts. Very much especially for a black person like me. I know there’s a lot of racism out there and I see it pretty often even within the online fan base but stark reminders that it is real like this still hurt terribly.

  25. I don’t get it, why would Piquet say that word? How is it possible that he thought it would be okay to utter that word, more than once! How can it be defended or excused?

  26. Quite sad, we still have to focus on racism and not racing.

    It would appear not enough was done to prevent this to casually happen, and if he was not a sponsorship exposed person, he would ger away with it.

    Just like Mazzepin got away with mistreating women right until he got in to F1.

  27. Piquet being an old dinosaur here. In Peru, my country, we see this problem everyday. (Usually white) racist people refer to Andean people as “llamas”, and “highlanders”. This last word, however, can be used by highlanders themselves in a neutral manner. But racists add something like “freezing highlander” (not “freezing, you get the idea).
    All that being said, these days I have heard people saying, “what if a black person called someone white?, isn’t it the same as what Piquet said?”… NO, it isn’t the same. Racist people use “black” as an insult, plain and simple. I still remember when some Spanish fans wore those masks to insult Hamilton (comparing him to an animal, as the case I mentioned related to racist people in my country). People who say “but Piquet used it in a neutral way”… No, because Hamilton is not his friend, Hamilton hasn’t allowed him to use that word as a friend(ly) way to be addressed (as friends can refer to each other with offensive words that are “usual” – see the way black rappers talk to each other), but especially because Hamilton has many times been attacked because of his color before. There’s no way to simply let that one go.
    (The friendly one is because my friends called me “Raw chicken” as I’m the pale one in the group. And I laugh every time they call me that way. But if they called me “F-reezing Raw chicken”… or a stranger called me that way, that would get my reaction).

  28. But it was uploaded in 2020 by the University youtube channel. I was pointing out that the word is not the equivalent to the “N word” in the US. You can even find rivers with that name in Brazil. And the Black Pudding analogy is not a real valid. The equivalent would be to have a dessert or sausage in this case in the US called “N word pudding”. The word is everywhere, it depends on context and how it is used. For instance if you hear someone say “negro de mier…” that is a racist term. By itself, hardly and again it depends.

    Also I am not sure why you think that argument is disingenuous. It really is a whole different culture, and it is not fair for people from Europe or the US to try and force us their moral values, views and racial hangups on us. I am not denying racism exists in Latin America, it does and with a whole added layer of classism (actually if you have the time, check out Evo Morales Coupe D’etat he suffered and that will shed a light on how racism usually plays a part in our cultures) but we use language very differently.

  29. https://twitter.com/luancz/status/1541802779571781633?s=20&t=lE2iuSJWT_TJR14oYaJWYA
    Good explanation (In Portuguese) about how Piquet was indeed offensive with his comments (as some people are claiming that what he said was mistranslated).

  30. F1 cares more about a word on a podcast than one driver endangering another’s life

    1. Max seems to have toned down his driving so they’ve moved on

  31. Wow. Reading the comments on here I can’t believe the percentage of those looking to excuse, minimise or downright justify this abhorrent language.

    Or maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised given the amount of negative comments on any article about diversity, inclusivity or Hamilton in general.

    1. It’s just language. A 70 y/o retired millionaire said something offensive and dumb, unfortunate but ultimately it just makes him look bad. The media would do more for inclusion if they just ignored stupid comments like this.

      1. The media would do more for inclusion if they just ignored stupid comments like this.

        Sadly, the media are the ones exploiting and perpetuating this stuff for profit.
        This site included.

        The basic fact is that if the media didn’t do this, nobody would be here talking about it. As far as anyone would know, it would never have happened.
        Who actually needed to know about this, anyway?

        1. S, this was reported because it was originally said in the media, to a reporter. It was always “in the media” because it was published.

          1. Yes, indeed. Wasn’t said to RaceFans, though, was it…
            Replaying it here for a few extra clicks here doesn’t go astray, eh?

  32. For some people color doesnt matter, as long as its white. Unfortunately I assume there are many more, than just the most stupid ones who show it in public.

  33. The absolute minimum that anyone needs to do to fight against racism in ANY form is take some form of deliberate, meaningful action. The absolute minimum that anyone needs to do to help maintain status quo racist attitudes and institutions is…absolutely nothing.

    1. Which is what S above does and confirms he will do. Absolutely nothing. Who cares, S, the poster above, said. Blame the press, blame it was published, but hey do nothing. S, it would seem, likes to keep the racism alive, keep it hidden. Let’s not kick up the fuss. Why are we. bothering ourselves talking about it at all?

      By the way, is Max still thinking what to say? Need PR to carve his responses? Or family consultation amongst girlfriend, future father in law, how to respond?

  34. Some people are questioning the timing of this I’m not it was let sit quietly until it could be used to maximum effect.
    People are trying to drag Verstappen into the argument why? Having been young once myself, the last thing I was worried about was what the father of the woman I was seeing said. Also, Verstappen is not shy in saying what he thinks. He should not be pursued and asked a gotcha question just for a headline. He’ll say what he thinks if he feels like it.
    As for Piquet F1 should withdraw any access he has to the sport thank him for his time as a driver and tell him goodbye.
    Everyone needs to know that no matter who you are in F1 be it a star driver or team Principal a Marshal or a fan they will be shown the door, there is no place for racial hatred.

  35. some racing fan
    29th June 2022, 2:02

    If this is Piquet’s idea of psychological tactics- i.e. what he did in the 80s when he said offensive things about Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna- then Lewis will likely be strengthened by Piquet’s verbal abuse.

    With no respect to his past accomplishments, Piquet should be banned from every FIA-sanctioned event, and if he issues an apology, then it should still be a 5-year ban. If not, then it should be life. There is no place for racism anytime, anywhere.

  36. This is totally unacceptable from Piquet and rightly the FIA take a stand against it.
    Will FIA also stop racing in countries which imprison those who stand up for LGBT?

  37. Racism is bad. Period. Even if it comes from a 70 year old guy who has shown to be an idiot before.

    That it’s being brought up now is gross, but shouldn’t be surprising given the British press track record. If there’s something to stir up last year’s controversy and unsettle Verstappen it’s right up their alley. Ask yourself: would it be in the news right now if it wasn’t his father in law who said it?

    How it will play out: Max will get questions about this, he will give his usual honest, but not very carefully worded opinion. It will make for juicy headlines. Jos, at some point, will probably have an opinion as well. We’re off to a good start with 150+ comments here alone.

    The main questions won’t be about racing this weekend, and it’s good because the anti racism message is much more important than that. The only thing that stings is that Lewis is the victim of racism, but I’m sure the burden this weekend won’t lay with him or in fact with Nelson Piquet.

  38. Electroball76
    29th June 2022, 8:36

    Regardless of the debate about “how bad” the term may be, reducing someone to a racial term (rather than using their name or other honourific) is deliberately insulting. I’m sure Piquet would take umbrage if the situation was reversed

  39. I think the bigger issue as a society is to find reason why one race can, is even encouraged to, use this word with gay abandonment in rap songs, comedy routines and daily life to the point that it has zero meaning anymore and another race getting slaughtered for even daring to mention it a single time.

    I’m sure Hamilton himself uses it amongst friends and even sings alongs to rap songs.

    An ultra privileged person like Hamilton has next to zero in common with the original people it was aimed at, other than skin colour….

    Basically, make up your mind, you either find the word insulting or don’t. If you do, then stop using it completely and stop supporting those of your own race who disrespect it.

    If you don’t and happily sing along and laugh at black comedians who throw it around in every other sentence then its pretty hypocritical to get so apparently insulted when it’s used elsewhere.

  40. I have been reading a lot of articles about this but all I have read is he used a racial language. It is difficult to judge if I cannot find what he said…

    1. Oh it was … . ….

      1. yes, it defenitely was a slur @qeki

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