Former Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet made not only racist, but also homophobic remarks towards seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, during an interview dating from November 2021, a new extract from which was revealed in the Brazilian press.
Three black deputies from the left-wing PSOL party also revealed to AFP on Saturday that they had filed a complaint with the Brasilia prosecutor’s office, demanding legal proceedings against the ex-Brazilian pilot.
According to a first excerpt from the interview at Motorsports.com, which resurfaced on the internet on Tuesday, the triple world champion (1981, 1983, 1987) had used the word “little black” (“neguinho” in Brazilian) to speak of Hamilton when discussing an accident involving Briton and Dutchman Max Verstappen on the first lap of the 2021 British Grand Prix.
In another extract, revealed on Friday by the specialized site Grandepremio.com, Nelson Piquet uses the same term again, but also makes homophobic remarks towards Hamilton, to talk about his rivalry with the German pilot Nico Rosberg, when they were all two members of the Mercedes team.
He also insults Nico’s father, Keke Rosberg, against whom he raced in the 80s, and whom he describes as “shit”. Before launching into a comment of a racist, sexual and homophobic nature targeting Hamilton again.
On Wednesday, Nelson Piquet, enthusiastic supporter of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, “apologized wholeheartedly” to the British pilot, but put his racist remarks into perspective, believing that they had been “mistranslated” by certain media international.
On Tuesday, Hamilton reacted: “These are more than words. These archaic mentalities must change and have no place in our sport”.
Piquet’s remarks had also been widely condemned in the world of F1, by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), by Formula 1, the organizer of the World Championship, and by teams and other drivers.
In the complaint filed with the prosecution, the left-wing deputies suggest in particular that the former Brazilian pilot be ordered to pay compensation for “collective moral damage” and that the sum be “donated to organizations which combat racial discrimination”.