Lewis Hamilton: F1 condemns Nelson Piquet’s racially abusive language about driver

Piquet used a racially offensive term in referring to Hamilton 

Formula 1 has condemned former world champion Nelson Piquet for using racially abusive language in reference to Lewis Hamilton. The 69-year-old, who won the world title on three occasions, used a racially offensive term about the Mercedes driver on a podcast. Speaking about the first lap of last year's British Grand Prix - when Hamilton and Max Verstappen were involved in an accident - he described the incident as "a joke". Piquet also suggested that Hamilton had been "lucky" that only the Red Bull driver crashed, before using a swear word in expressing his opinion that Hamilton had made a mistake during the race.  https://twitter.com/F1/status/1541117839662260225

F1 condemn Piquet for using racially abusive language

After video emerged of Piquet describing Hamilton as 'neguinho', a Brazilian Portuguese term which refers to Hamilton's skin tone, Formula 1 released a statement condemning the use of such language.

An F1 statement 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."

It continued: "His tireless efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are a lesson to many and something we are committed to at F1."

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1541719302876823552?s=20&t=lfDNiA9OoDsu5qltE-Fp4Q

Mercedes said: "We condemn in the strongest terms any use of 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 a diverse and inclusive motorsport, and this incident underlines the fundamental importance of continuing to strive for a brighter future."

https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1541711270847680515

Piquet, who is the father of Verstappen's partner Kelly Piquet, has previously made offensive comments about Nigel Mansell and his wife.

During his driving career, he also publicly questioned Ayrton Senna's sexuality and called his rival "the Sao Paulo taxi driver".

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