Verstappen: Piquet is not a racist! His remark was wrong, but the reaction is disproportionate, Red Bull driver angry

Another major scandal is currently circulating through the queen of motorsport. Nélson Piquet used a word in an interview in November that many seemed to take differently than the Brazilian champion actually meant. And in doing so, he racially insulted Lewis Hamilton, who is now defending himself. However, Max Verstappen points out that Piquet is certainly no racist. Do you agree with his statement?

The three-time world champion and Brazilian legend should have racially insulted Mercedes driver Hamilton in his statement a few days ago. Back in November last year, journalist Ricardo Oliveira filmed an interview with Piquet, but it has only now become public.

In that interview, Oliveira asked the former Brazilian racing driver what he thought about last year’s accident between Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Last year’s crash at Silverstone

In last year’s British Grand Prix, Verstappen crashed after making contact with Hamilton early in the race, specifically at the Copse corner. The seven-time world champion missed the apex and after a close battle, the two drivers’ wheels collided with each other.

The Dutch pilot flew off the track and crashed hard into the tyre barrier, being subjected to a 51g overload. Verstappen subsequently ended up in hospital and although he was given a penalty by race directors, Hamilton eventually won the Silverstone race.

After the race, Red Bull fans in particular were outraged that the British driver duly celebrated his victory, despite sending his rival to hospital. At least, that’s how the Austrian team boss Christian Horner put it at the time.

Piquet’s statement

However, Piquet used the word “neguinho” in his statement, which is a commonly used colloquial expression and is also a diminutive of the word “nego”. However, as the Czech news server F1 Sport writes, if one uses this term to refer to a stranger, it already contains a racist context.

“The little ne** just sent the car in, hit Max and then drove off. Senna would never do that,” Piquet said in the above interview. The former Brazilian racer subsequently apologised to Hamilton after widespread controversy and a wave of negativity towards him.

He also later explained that the word he used was definitely not meant to sound the way almost everyone translates it. Piquet said that in old Brazilian Portuguese, the diminutive means something like “guy”.

His apology and explanation, however, is not enough for Hamilton or even Formula 1. The now 69-year-old Brazilian has been expelled from the British Drivers’ Club, where he was an honorary member, and F1 has also banned him from the paddock.

It should be noted, the queen of motorsport is currently dealing with many political issues, and consequently, scandals and controversies. Hamilton has thus recommended that F1 restrict Piquet, Stewart and Bernie Ecclestone, who is the former Formula One boss, from any speaking space.

Verstappen’s reaction

The Dutchman Verstappen has reacted to the situation surrounding Piquet and Hamilton and for him it is in some ways personal. After all, the reigning world champion is dating Nélson Piquet’s daughter, Kelly Piquet.

“I think the wording that Nelson used was not correct. But I spent some time with him and he’s definitely not a racist. I still don’t think it’s a good wording to use, but he’s actually a nice and relaxed guy. And I’m pretty sure you can translate his statement in two ways, given the difference in cultures and languages,” said Verstappen, who was quoted by Motorsport.

“As I said, it can be interpreted in two ways, but of course people will bring up the bad side, and that’s really unreasonable because I know Nelson personally. People are now calling him a racist. And even though I don’t think that about him, I still agree that we can’t use those words,” Verstappen said angrily.

“These things are easy to solve. If you insult someone, say it and apologize, you can forget about it. As long as he learns from his mistake, I don’t think he should be banned from the paddock. Especially if he’s a three-time world champion,” he concluded.

F1, Motorsport, F1 Sport