Photo: Wikimedia Commons, ed.
In a November 2021 interview, Piquet used racist language about Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who collided with Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix.
At the time, Piquet referred to Hamilton as the Portuguese “neguinho”.
The 70-year-old Piquet – who proved to be the best in motorsport’s elite category in 1981, 1983 and 1987 – later apologized to the British driver and said that his words had been translated incorrectly. The ex-racer’s daughter, Kelly, has been the girlfriend of Dutch double World Cup winner Verstappen for years.
Last summer, another recording was made public in which Piquet – talking about the 2016 World Championship – made racist and homophobic remarks about Hamilton, who received honorary Brazilian citizenship in June and is the only driver of color in the F1 field.
Piquet was sued by four human rights organizations for moral damages, they wanted him to pay a fine of ten million reais.