Formula 1 has slammed three-time world champion Nelson Piquet after he used a racially offensive term while referring to Lewis Hamilton. Piquet made the remarks while speaking about Hamilton's win at the British Grand Prix in 2021 on a Brazilian podcast.
During the race, Hamilton was involved in an incident with Max Verstappen on the opening lap, with Vertstappen crashing out after making contact with his rival's car. Hamilton went on to win the race and Piquet twice used a racist term, which is Brazilian slang for the N-word, to describe the Brit when speaking to the Brazilian publication Estadao.
In a video released on June 27, Piquet said: "The n******* put the car in the wrong way and didn't let [the other driver swerve]. The n******* 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 Mirror reports.
In a statement, F1 said: "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."
Hamilton also addressed the Piquet's comments on social media, tweeting: "It's more than language. 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."
He also posted a message in Portuguese which translates to "Let's focus on changing the mindset" and wrote "Imagine" when responding to a fan who had tweeted: "What if Lewis Hamilton just tweeted 'Who the f*** is Nelson Piquet?' then closed Twitter".
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
READ NEXT:
- Scots mum with incurable cancer vows to defy expectations and fight on for young kids
- Scots fugitive who 'may have fled to Spain' wanted for murder as Crimestoppers offer £10k reward
- Scots thug who hacked off chunk of man's ear over 'elderly mum threat row' dodges jail
