Max Verstappen has leapt to the defence of Nelson Piquet as the former world champion faces a Formula 1 lifetime ban following his n-word description of Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen says Piquet was 'not correct' to use phrases when talking about Hamilton on a podcast which have been widely condemned as racist. But the Dutchman insisted 69-year-old Piquet is a "nice guy", is "not a racist", should not be banned from F1 tracks and that, while the Brazilian's remarks could not be excused, the incident had been "blown out of all proportion".
Verstappen, whose partner Kelly is Piquet's daughter, said: "I've spent a bit of time with Nelson – more than the average person in general – and he's definitely not a racist. He's actually a really nice and relaxed guy. The wording which was used – even though there are different kinds of cultures and it's probably something they said when they were younger – was not correct.
