the anger of Lewis Hamilton after the racist term of Nelson Piquet


The Formula 1 world has expressed its condemnation of the racist term used by three-time world champion Nelson Piquet to refer to Lewis Hamilton.

“Let’s focus on changing mindsets.” The message, in Portuguese, was tweeted by Lewis Hamilton on Tuesday the day after the broadcast of an interview, recorded last fall and relayed Monday evening by CNN Brasil, of three-time Brazilian F1 world champion Nelson Piquet. Asked about Max Verstappen’s crash at last year’s Silverstone Grand Prix following a skirmish with the British driver, the 69-year-old Brazilian said: “The Negro moved the car forward and sped because there was no way two cars would pass around that bend”. In VO, Nelson Piquet, whose daughter Kelly is in a relationship with the current world champion, used the term “neguinho”, which the Urban Dictionary specifies that, although used “for blacks and whites”, it “may be offensive”.

Lewis Hamilton, very involved in the fight against racism and who is the only black driver in the history of F1, expressed his anger: “These are more than words. These archaic mindsets must change and have no place in our sport. I have been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted all my life. There has been plenty of time to learn. It’s time to act.” Shortly before, the seven-time world champion had quipped by quoting a tweet asking “What if Lewis Hamilton tweets ‘who is Nelson Piquet?’ then close his account?”, adding: “Imagine”.

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Lewis Hamilton, who was elevated to the rank of Knight of the British Order at the end of 2020, has been supported by his team, Mercedes, and the management of F1. “Lewis has been at the forefront of our sport’s efforts to combat racism and he is a true champion of diversity on and off the circuit. Together we share a vision for a diverse and inclusive world of motorsport and this incident shows the crucial importance of the pursuit for a better future,” the team wrote on Twitter, also sharing a portrait of its driver in front of a Union Black and gray jack. “Lewis is an incredible ambassador for our sport and deserves respect. His hard work for diversity and inclusion is a lesson for many and we are involved in F1,” the official sports account added.

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His teammate George Russell also supported him: “Huge respect to LH. He has done more for the sport than any driver in history, not just on the track but off it as well. The fact that he and so many others STILL have to deal with this behavior is unacceptable. We all need to rise up against discrimination of all kinds,” wrote the Briton.

“Ask him why he doesn’t like women”

This is not the first time that Nelson Piquet, who appeared last year alongside far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, has made derogatory comments.

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Nelson Piquet and Jair Bolsonaro, in May 2021, during a demonstration against the restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic..

© Evaristo Sa / AFP

In 2020, during an interview on YouTube, he returned to a controversy from 1987, when he implied that Ayrton Senna was homosexual. A misunderstanding, he had tried to explain, while justifying himself, against a background of jealousy towards his Brazilian rival, favorite of the attention of the media and supporters: “In 1987, I was the champion but Senna gave interviews every day, every week, disappeared in October and did not return until the end of January, he said according to UOL Esporte. A journalist from “Jornal do Brasil” asked me if I had read one of his articles. I replied jokingly, “Do you think I’m wasting my time reading the article you wrote?” Then he told me that I had to read it because Senna explained that if he hadn’t disappeared, I wouldn’t have had a place in the Brazilian media, when I had just won my third title. The journalist asked me if I agreed and I replied: “Ask him why he doesn’t like women”. Then this same journalist wrote a long article, saying that I had evoked the sexuality of Senna, that circulated in the whole world. Senna had spent almost three years in Formula 1 and he didn’t have a girlfriend, he had a guy called Junior who was always by his side. Ayrton Senna, beloved by many F1 fans and whom Lewis Hamilton says is his idol, tragically died in 1994 after an accident at the Imola Grand Prix.

The insulting remarks of the Brazilian towards Lewis Hamilton were revealed two weeks after the Briton obtained, thanks to a decision of the Brazilian Parliament, the honorary nationality. “I don’t have the words. Thank you Brazil, I love you, I can’t wait to see you again,” said the pilot. “His public positions in favor of subjects such as the environment, animal rights, black people, women and human rights must be underlined”, had welcomed the Brazilian deputy Jhonatan de Jesus, justifying the choice of the elected officials, which will soon be followed by an official ceremony.

Last fall, shortly before the Interlagos Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Lewis Hamilton had shown his attachment to Ayrton Senna, who had inspired his first helmets in F1, with a helmet in the colors of the Brazilian flag.





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