Earlier this week, Nelson Piquet was ordered to pay a heft fine for his discriminatory remarks against Lewis Hamilton. The incident occurred during a TV show in 2021 when the Brazilian was commenting on Hamilton’s crash with Max Verstappen in Silverstone.
Piquet had referred to the 7x champion using a racist and homophobic term on national television. When the remarks surfaced, the disgraced former champion was boycotted from the entire F1 paddock.
4 LGBTQ rights organisations pressed charges against the Brazilian. After a thorough hearing, the former 3x world champion was ordered to pay $953,050 fine for his homophobic and racist remarks against the Mercedes driver.
🚨 Formula One champion Nelson Piquet must pay 5 million Brazilian Reals ($953,050) in moral damages for racist and homophobic comments against Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, a Brazilian court ruled on Friday.⚖️
[@ReutersSports] pic.twitter.com/D13NbiCC7p
— Hamilton Insights (@LH44_insights) March 25, 2023
Hamilton praised the Brazilian government for supporting minorities and taking action against Piquet. And Briton hopes more countries should take inspiration from the incidents.
Lewis Hamilton heaps praises on Brazil for sentencing Nelson Piquet
Hamilton received strong support from the entire F1 paddock following the incident. And the Mercedes driver claims such people should be distanced from the sport.
The Briton opined, “When it happened I made comments on it. I still believe that we shouldn’t be giving people that are just full of hate a platform to speak.” He called for a need to remove an archaic mindset from society when the incident happened.
“I’m incredibly grateful to all those that have been supportive within the sport” ❤️
Lewis Hamilton has thanked those who have supported him after Nelson Piquet’s comments towards the Mercedes driver this week. pic.twitter.com/zr3Temqkw0
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 30, 2022
However, the 7x champion heaped praises on the Brazilian government for the verdict. “I’d like to acknowledge the Brazilian government,” he said ahead of the 2023 Australian GP.
Hamilton, an honorary Brazilian citizen added, “It’s pretty amazing to see what they’ve done in holding someone accountable and showing people that this is not tolerated. Racism and homophobia are not acceptable, and there is no place for it within our society.”
Hamilton condemns Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill
Hamilton also took the opportunity to address the concern of discrimination against homosexuality in some countries. The Briton claims that Piquet’s indictment should inspire other countries to stand up against homophobic ideologies.
Hamilton claimed, “I love that Brazil has shown that they stand for something. I wish that more governments out there would do that, such as you’ve just seen in Uganda”
Recently Ugandan government passed an extremely Anti-LGBT bill that does not tolerate LGBTQ rights in the country. No same-sex activity will be allowed within the country.
Well done @LewisHamilton, brilliant on track & brilliant off track as usual, for speaking out on Instagram (see screen-grab) against the appalling new bill passed by the Ugandan parliament that would make it a crime merely to identify as #LGBTQ. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/WdwjsFRf6e
— Matt Bishop 🏳️🌈 (@TheBishF1) March 25, 2023
Disobeying the law could see people being charged with 10 years imprisonment or even death in some cases. The 7x champion recently posted a story on Instagram asking the Ugandan government to “undo” the act.
He also spoke against other countries that criminalize or wish to eradicate homosexuality within their borders. Hamilton added, “Obviously there are over 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East. There’s a lot of that can be learned from that.”
F1 continues to race in some countries with questionable human rights violations. This includes Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and UAE where homosexuality is illegal.
