Nelson Piquet receives £780,000 fine for racist and homophobic abuse towards Lewis Hamilton

Nelson Piquet has received a £780,00 fine for racist and homophobic comments made towards Lewis Hamilton in late 2021. 

A Brazilian court has ruled against the three-time world champion after he was filmed on a podcast using a N-word slur against Hamilton – along with a homophobic slur.

Piquet made the remarks against the Mercedes driver during an interview in November 2021, when commenting on Hamilton’s British Grand Prix crash with Max Verstappen.

Hamilton was blamed for the incident by Piquet, whose daughter Kelly, has been dating Verstappen for a number of years, before he launched into a tirade including racist language. In an extended version of the clip, Piquet also uses homophobic slurs against Hamilton.

The charges were brought by four human rights groups, including Brazil’s National LGBT+ Alliance, which initially wanted Piquet to pay £1.5million [10 million Brazilian Reals] for alleged moral damages. He has been charged half of that amount.

Piquet made the remarks against the Mercedes driver during an interview in November 2021

In his decision, Judge Pedro Matos de Arrudo said the amount of compensation was given ‘in the sense that one should not only appreciate the reparative function of civil liability but also (and perhaps mainly) the punitive function so that, as a society, we can someday be free from the pernicious acts that are racism and homophobia’.

Piquet has since apologised for using the derogatory Portuguese phrase ‘neguinho’ and condemned any suggestion that the word was used ‘with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour. 

Piquet, in his apology, said: ‘What I said was ill thought out, and I make no defence for it, but I will clarify that the term used is one that 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 the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour.

‘I apologise wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct. 

‘Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect.’ 

Hamilton hit back at the original comment which went public, writing ‘Imagine’ next to a tweet which said, ‘what if Lewis Hamilton just tweeted, ‘Who the f*** is Nelson Piquet?’

The 37-year-old added: ‘It’s more than language. These are 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.’ 

Piquet since apologised for his comments and admitted his remarks were ‘ill thought out’

Hamilton initially hit back at the comments and called for ‘change’ to the ‘archaic mindsets’

He also posted a message in Portuguese – Piquet’s native language – reading, ‘let’s focus on changing the mindset.’

Both Formula 1 and Hamilton’s Mercedes team also condemned Piquet’s comments.

‘Discriminatory or racist language is unacceptable in any form and has no part in society,’ F1 said in a statement, while Mercedes added: ‘We condemn in the strongest terms any use of racist or discriminatory language of any kind. 

‘Lewis has spearheaded our sport’s efforts to combat racism, and he is a true champion of diversity on and off track.’ 

Hamilton, who was awarded honorary Brazilian citizenship in June 2021, is the sport’s only Black driver.

Piquet’s daughter, Kelly (left), is currently dating the 2021 drivers’ champion Verstappen