Picture Credit: Twitter
Reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen has finally opened up on the racism incident involving Nelson Piquet and Lewis Hamilton. The Red Bull driver has condemned the use of racial slur against his fellow driver Lewis Hamilton when asked about it on the eve of British Grand Prix 2022.
The current leader in the Driver’s standings replied that the words stated were incorrect and also added that this should be a lesson for the future.
“I think the working that was used, even though the course with different kinds of cultures and things they said when they were little younger, was not correct. Let it be a lesson for the future not to use that word, because it’s very offensive and especially nowadays, it gains traction”, Max Verstappen stated.
Watch his statement here:
He said that his girlfriend’s father (Nelson) is “definitely not a racist”. He also vouched on this by saying that he has spent time with him and “he’s a really nice and relaxed guy”.
Meanwhile, three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet has come out and apologized to Lewis Hamilton for his comments from the last year’s interview after there were reports of the Brazilian being banned from F1 paddock. He also clarified that the term is widely used in Brazilian Portuguese as synonym for “guy” or “person”.
“I apologise wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media is not correct. Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect.”
