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Lewis Hamilton was called a racist term by ex-F1 champion Nelson Piquet, as per various reports from Brazil. This insult took place in an interview that Piquet gave in November 2021. The Brazilian was discussing last year’s F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. But his comments have only just surfaced recently.
The Former F1 driver had criticised Hamilton for his crash with RedBull driver Max Verstappen in the corpse corner and called him racist words, in his native language. Piquet said, “The little n****r [Lewis Hamilton] put the car in and left because there was no way to pass two cars on that corner. He made a joke. Lucky for him, only the other one [Max Verstappen] got f****d up.”
Formula 1 also released a statement addressing the issue, “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.”
Similarly, Hamilton’s team Mercedes-Petronas also released a statement about the issue that said, “We condemn in the strongest terms any use of the racist or discriminatory language of any kind. 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 diverse and inclusive motorsport, and this incident underlines the fundamental importance of continuing to strive for a brighter future.”
Lewis Hamilton has been one of the biggest trail-blazers against racism in the world. He has been an outspoken voice who has used his platform to create change. While talking in April 2021, Hamilton talked about his approach to tackling racism. He said, “At the beginning of the year I was very outspoken and calling out the sport.”
“At the time that was the right thing for me, but I discovered that there are times where you have to be very diplomatic, where there’s more you can do by discussions in the background, rather than embarrassing people. “I’m having conversations, trying to hold people in the sport more accountable. I’m constantly sending emails, I’m constantly on Zoom calls with Formula One and challenging them like they wouldn’t want to be challenged.”