Former F1 champion Nelson Piquet’s comments on Lewis Hamilton that have surfaced this week has created quite a storm recently.
While most of the F1 world was quick to make its allegiance towards Hamilton pretty known, Max Verstappen’s girlfriend Kelly Piquet seems to have defended her father.
Audio of an interview with Nelson which had recently surfaced was originally taken from last year’s British Grand Prix, where Hamilton and Verstappen were involved in a collision.
It forced Verstappen to be sent to the hospital, while Hamilton went on to take a precious win at his home Grand Prix.
What did Kelly Piquet do?
While a lot has been made of Nelson’s choice of words with respect to Hamilton, his family members seem to be standing with him.
Rodrigo Piquet, a relative of Nelson, took to Instagram in defence.
“Inacinha, our second grandmother and the mother of my father and the soul and heart of my uncle.
“She called all of us that. It’s not like that, but it’s about love.
“Hypocritical world.”
He soon made his account private, but before that, Nelson’s daughter Kelly had already liked the post, showing that she felt her father was not at fault.
FIA has since decided to ban the three-time world champion from the paddock.
“Discriminatory or racist language is unacceptable and has no part in society,” an F1 statement read.
“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.”
What was Hamilton’s reaction?
Hamilton himself chose to vent his opinion on social media.
“It’s more than language,” Hamilton said.
“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.”
Quite expected, Mercedes issued a statement supporting Hamilton.
“We condemn in the strongest terms any use of racist or discriminatory language of any kind,” it said.
“Lewis has spearheaded our sport’s efforts to combat racism, and he is a true champion of diversity on and off track.
“Together, we share a vision for a diverse and inclusive motorsport, and this incident underlines the fundamental importance of continuing to strive for a brighter future.”
Lewis finds support from fellow drivers
Hamilton found support from a number of other influential members on the paddock, including the likes of Charles Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo and teammate George Russell.
“Knowing Lewis since I arrived in Formula 1, he has always been kind and respectful to me and everyone that he meets,” Leclerc said.
“Those values should be the standard towards anybody around the world.
“The comments made towards Lewis should not be tolerated, and we should continue to push for a more diverse and inclusive sport.
“We need to remove discriminatory behaviour and racist language in any form from not just our sport, but our society as well.”
This is surely not the last of what we’ve heard about this topic as it is expected to be a hot topic of deliberation when the drivers address the media on Thursday.
Read more: Lewis Hamilton may face British Grand Prix ban if FIA stewards decide to enforce rule