In a leaked interview from the British Grand Prix from last year Nelson Piquet referred to Lewis Hamilton with a racist epithet.
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Nelson Piquet apologised to Lewis Hamilton “wholeheartedly,” but he disputes that the phrase he used was racist and maintains that it was mistranslated. This week, video of the former F1 world champion from Brazil calling Hamilton a slur that was officially deemed racist by the Brazilian media surfaced ahead of the F1 British Grand Prix. Max Verstappen’s fiancée Kelly, who is the daughter of Piquet, has now backed the idea that he didn’t want to be racist by like a message on social media.
A leaked interview from the British Grand Prix from last year appears to show Nelson Piquet referring to Lewis Hamilton with a racist epithet. The Brazilian driver was discussing his thoughts on the collision between Verstappen and Hamilton at the renowned copse circuit. As he ran the rule over what transpired, Piquet referred to the Mercedes driver as “neguinho.” “The neguinho put the car in the wrong way on the corner, it’s because you don’t know the curve. It’s a very high curve, there is no way to pass two cars and there’s no way you can put the car aside.”
“I would like to clear up the stories circulating in the media about a comment I made in an interview last year. What I said was ill thought out, and I make no defence for it, but I will clarify that the term used is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend.”
“I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour.” said Piquet in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Read more: 2022 British Grand Prix: Schedule, Timings and Live Streaming details
The three Time World Champion driver from Brazil further apologized to the British driver and others who were offended by his words. “I apologize wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct. Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect.” expresses Piquet.
