Party congressmen accused the former driver of discrimination and prejudice against Lewis Hamilton
The Psol bench in the Chamber of Deputies delivered this Saturday (July 2, 2022) a representation in the Public Ministry against former driver Nelson Piquet, three-time Formula 1 world champion. British driver Lewis Hamilton.
In an interview with the channel Motorsport Talkson Youtube, the three-time champion called Hamilton a “nigger” when commenting on an accident between Hamilton and Dutch driver Max Verstappen at the 2021 British Grand Prix. Later, another stretch was revealed, where Piquet repeats the term and made comments considered homophobic.
According to Psol, the former Brazilian driver was prejudiced and discriminated against the British athlete, who is a seven-time F1 world champion.
“Racism structures social relations in Brazil. In this sense, treating black human beings in a pejorative way, as Nelson Piquet does, is not in line with the practices for the realization of the equality device”declared the party in the representation.
Hamilton is the greatest champion in the history of the category, with 7 titles, tied with the German Michael Schumacher. He also holds the record for wins, poles and podiums. He is the 1st and only black driver in the history of Formula 1. At the beginning of June, he received the title of honorary Brazilian citizen. The tribute was approved by the Chamber of Deputies.
Understand
Commenting on Piquet’s statements, Hamilton said on Tuesday (June 28) that it is necessary to “change mindset” in relation to racism. Not to mention the three-time champion, Hamilton declared on Twitter in Portuguese: “Let’s focus on changing the mindset”.
After the episode, Formula 1, the FIA (Federation Internationale de Automobilismo) and Mercedes -Hamilton’s F1 team- published statements condemning racism against the driver. Hamilton has also received support from a large part of the teams and drivers on the current F1 grid.
The current world champion of the category, the Dutch Max Verstappen, said that the former driver “definitely not racist“. Son-in-law of Piquet, the Red Bull athlete cited his proximity to the Brazilian to defend him and said that the choice of word may not have been correct. “Let it serve as a lesson not to use it in the future, because it is very offensive”he said.
Second website specialized in motorsport motorsport, F1 is studying banning the three-time champion paddock –area reserved for teams and the press during grand prix.
Piquet released a statement on Wednesday (June 29) apologizing to Hamilton. He blamed the translation of the interview. He said the term “nigger” would be “widely and historically used colloquially in Portuguese as a synonym for ‘person’ or ‘cara’”. He also declared that speech was “badly thought out” and will not defend against it.
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