A big racist scandal erupted on Tuesday in Formula 1.
An old interview with three-time racing champion Nelson Piquet has appeared in the Brazilian press, in which he uses a racist term in relation to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
Reportedly, the conversation of the former athlete with journalist Ricardo Oliveira took place back in November 2021.
During it, Pique, expressing his opinion about the collision of Hamilton with Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix, used the word "neguinho" several times.
In Portuguese, it is considered a racist insult.
In addition, the Brazilian accused the British pilot of using a "dirty trick": he allegedly stood up for a blow in a situation where there was no room for two cars on the track.
Emotions overwhelmed Pique because of the incident for a reason: the Red Bull pilot is the boyfriend of his daughter Kelly.
Recall that during that race, Hamilton and Verstappen collided at high speed on the first lap.
As a result, the car of the Dutch racer crashed into a tire fence, and he himself had to be sent to the hospital for examination.
The judges found Hamilton "primarily" guilty of the collision, and as a punishment they gave him a 10-second penalty, which did not prevent Lewis from winning that race.
The leadership of the Austrian stable was outraged by the insufficient, in their opinion, punishment of the Briton and filed an appeal, which, however, was rejected.
The community reaction to the release of Piqué's offensive remarks was unequivocal: condemnation.
So, an official statement was very quickly published on Formula 1 Twitter, emphasizing that discriminatory or racist statements are unacceptable in any form and they have no place in society.
“Lewis is a great representative of our sport and deserves respect.
His tireless efforts to promote diversity and inclusion are a lesson to many and are committed to in Formula 1.
The International Automobile Association spoke in a similar way, expressing full solidarity with the British racer and supporting him in the pursuit of equality and diversity in motorsport.
The discriminatory words of Pique were also condemned in the Hamilton team.
“Lewis leads our sport's efforts to fight racism and is a true champion of diversity on and off the track.
Together we share a vision of diversity and inclusion in motorsport and this incident highlights the fundamental importance of continuing to strive for a brighter future,” Mercedes said in a statement.
There were, of course, those who stood up for Piqué.
So, his nephew Rodrigo said that the scandal was artificially inflated, and Nelson did not really set out to offend the famous pilot.
He posted a photo of his grandmother on the social network, noting in the caption that she “called all her grandchildren blacks” and this was a manifestation of love, not hatred.
“Damn hypocritical world,” said the hereditary racing driver.
Hamilton himself also did not stand aside and stressed that in modern conditions it is no longer enough just to condemn racist attacks - you need to take some action to stop them.
“It's not just about the statements.
Such archaic attitudes must change, they have no place in our sport.
All my life I have faced such views and been a target.
There was plenty of time to absorb it.
It's time to act," wrote the seven-time world champion on Twitter.
In addition, he published a separate post in Portuguese calling for a change in mindset.
This tweet received more than six thousand supportive comments in a couple of hours, including from Hispanic fans.
It is noteworthy that just a couple of weeks ago, the pilot was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Brazil.
Hamilton, who became the first black Formula 1 driver, is known for his active citizenship.
So, he called for the return home of the American basketball player Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia for drug smuggling, and also criticized the abolition of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.
He called the decision of the Supreme Court disgusting and emphasized that it would hit the most vulnerable layers the hardest - including people "with a different skin color."