Nelson Piquet Sr. has been banned from the F1 paddock following his racist language used in reference to Lewis Hamilton, per multiple reports.
The three-time F1 world champion issued an apology Wednesday, saying, in part, “What I said was ill thought out, and I make no defence for it, but the term used has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend. I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour.”
In an interview conducted late last year, the 69-year-old used the derogatory term when discussing Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s first-lap collision during last season’s British Grand Prix. Piquet, who is the father of Verstappen’s partner, Kelly, commented on the Mercedes star’s handling of the car. Piquet said Hamilton “put his car there to hit him on purpose,” later adding “he wanted to take him out no matter the cost.”
