Rodrigo Piquet, a relative of three-time Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet, has defended the 69-year-old after he used a racial slur to describe Lewis Hamilton.
Piquet made the comments while speaking about Hamilton's victory at last year's British Grand Prix, which saw him clash with rival Max Verstappen.
In an appearance on a podcast in November, he twice used the term "n*******"when referring to Hamilton, which is Portuguese slang for the N-word.
Piquet's comments have been condemned by Formula 1 and Hamilton's team, Mercedes, while the Brit has called for "action". On Twitter, he wrote: "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."
However, Rodrigo has attempted to defend the former driver on Instagram, in a post that was liked by Nelson's daughter Kelly Piquet, who is currently dating Verstappen. In the post, Rodrigo shared an image of himself and Nelson with the family's "second grandmother", stating that she "called all of us n*****".
He wrote: "Inacinha our second grandmother, and the mother of my father and my uncles' soul and heart!! She called all of us n*****.. it's not about it is about LOVE! F*****g hypocritical world !!! #P1QUET"
Piquet could face a lifetime ban from the sport as a result of his comments, with Formula 1 stating: "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."
