Former three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet has been slapped with a hefty $5 Million fine. Piquet caused a global furor after he made racist and homophobic comments about Lewis Hamilton in an interview in 2021.
After his comments, several human rights groups brought a civil action against Piquet in a Brazillian court. Initially, these groups were demanding almost $2 Million(US) in damages.
Although, on Friday, the court ruled that the former Brazillian racer would have to pay 5 Million Brazillian Reals($953,050 US) in moral damages. The decision was handed down by the 20th Civil Court of Brasilia.
The reason behind the $1 Million fine
Piquet’s comments became a global headline and while the Brazillian apologized and defended himself saying that he had no racial intent, it made the case even worse. For defending himself, Piquet cited translation inaccuracies as a reason for being accused of being a racist.
As per Reuters, the judge who ruled the decision, Pedro Matos de Arrudo, explained the decision behind the amount of compensation. Arrudo said that one should not only appreciate the reparative function of civil liability but also(perhaps mainly) the punitive function. So that, as a society, we can someday be free from the pernicious acts of racism and homophobia.
Nelson Piquet’s racist comments on Lewis Hamilton
In the interview, the Brazillian was talking about the 2021 British Grand Prix crash between Hamilton and Max Verstappen. He used the ‘N-word’ when referring to Hamilton and said that the Briton did not leave space for Verstappen.
Piquet made these comments in a Portuguese interview with the Motorsports Talk channel in November 2021. This video was uploaded to Youtube and caused an uproar.
Piquet is also the father of Max Verstappen’s current girlfriend, Kelly Piquet. The 70-year-old is also criticized for his political inclination towards former controversial Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Following the uproar among the masses brought about by Piquet’s comments, the FIA(governing body of F1) banned him from entering the F1 paddock. Apart from that his acts were strictly condemned by Mercedes, F1, and FIA.
