Africa-Press – South-Africa. The name Nelson Piquet is not strange to ardent Formula 1 fans. Whether it be the legendary Brazilian racer who won the F1 championship on three occasions or his son, Piquet Jr, who infamously crashed at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, the Piquet name is not unfamiliar to the sport.
And more, Piquet Sr’s daughter, Kelly, is current F1 champion Max Verstappen’s girlfriend. She also has a child with former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat. Needless to say, the Piquet family is quite embedded in the sport.
But the family’s patriarch recently sparked social outrage after referring to Lewis Hamilton in a defamatory manner, calling him the Brazilian term for a n*****. The action has not gone down well, and the former champion has been blasted by F1’s stakeholders, role-players, and media outlets.
It is believed that the interview in which Piquet made the racial slur took place in November 2021, with the footage released in late June 2022.
The F1 community reacts
F1 has come a long way in eliminating discrimination and social injustices. Though not easy, the sport is doing all it can to change perceptions and create an all-inclusive environment. And comments like these made by Piquet Sr are not aiding the cause.
The FIA, F1’s governing body, reacted to Piquet’s comments and made it clear that they stand with Hamilton: “The FIA strongly condemns any racist or discriminatory language and behaviour, which have no place in sport or wider society. We express our solidarity with Lewis Hamilton and fully support his commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in motorsport.”
READ: Former F1 driver Piquet slammed for ‘unacceptable’ racist language towards Hamilton
Formula One said on its Twitter account: “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.”
“We condemn in the strongest terms any use of racist or discriminatory language of any kind,” the Mercedes-AMG team said in an official statement. “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.”
“It’s more than language,” Hamilton said on his Twitter account. “These archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport. I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action.”
Piquet’s F1 career
Piquet Sr made his F1 debut in 1978, but it wasn’t until the season’s eleventh round that he got his first taste of an F1 race. He raced for Ensign-Ford alongside Derek Daly before moving to McLaren-Ford for rounds 12 to 14. He returned for round 16, piloting one of Brabham-Alfa Romeo’s cars.
Piquet made his full-time F1 debut for Brabham-Alfa Romeo in 1979 before moving to Brabham-Ford for the season’s final two races. He finished the season in 16th place. In 1980, having continued his relationship with Brabham-Ford, he finished the championship in second place, and in 1981, still racing for the same team, he won his first of three championships.
His first F1 crown wasn’t won convincingly, having secured his best results – a first and two second places – in the season’s final three races. Despite a different points system being used then, Piquet had 50 points to his name, just beating Carlos Reutemann on 49.
Piquet won the championship again in 1983, this time piloting a Brabham-BMW, and again in 1987 with Williams-Honda.
The Brazilian was involved in 208 GPs but participated in 204 of them. He retired in more than 42% of the races (86) he competed in, all while managing to win 23.
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