Nelson Piquet could be banned ‘for life’ by F1 chiefs after Lewis Hamilton racist abuse
Three-time world champion Nelson Piquet may never attend a Formula 1 race again after audio emerged of the Brazilian using a racial slur to describe Lewis Hamilton
Formula 1 bosses could ban Nelson Piquet for life following the Brazilian’s racist abuse of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
Piquet—whose daughter, Kelly, is in a relationship with Red Bull ‘s Max Verstappen —has been widely condemned for his comments in a 2021 interview. During the audio clip, the three-time world champion can be heard calling Hamilton “neguinho” (an epithet that translates to ‘n****r’).
“The n****r put the car in the wrong way and didn’t let [the other driver swerve],” the 69-year-old said in Portuguese while describing a clash between Hamilton and Verstappen last year. “The n****r 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. He did [Verstappen] dirty. His luck was that only the other one was gone.”
The Sun reported Piquet could face a lifetime ban from the sport in which he was crowned world champion in 1981, 1983 and 1987. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was among the first to show his support for Hamilton and said F1 has to “remove discriminatory behaviour and racist language in any form.”
Hamilton was quick to respond and tweeted in Portuguese that the community must “focus on changing the mindset.” The Silver Arrows star added the “time has come for action,” having raised concern with F1’s racial inequality in the past.