Picture Credit: Twitter
Former F1 champion Nelson Piquet is under investigation by Brazilian prosecutors after a video emerged of him wishing death upon Brazil’s new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula edged out Jair Bolsonaro to win the presidential election by a slender margin last weekend.
But Piquet wasn’t happy with the result and was quick to express his discontent with the new President. As Bolsonaro's supporters protested against Luiz Lula setting up roadblocks across the country. The Formula 1 champion was seen in one of these public demonstrations, where he was filmed by a fan wishing death of the new President.
"We're going to get Lula, son of a b****, out of here," Piquet stated to a fan, who replied: "That's it! Brazil above everything, God above everything." The 70-year-old F1 racer then added: "it is Lula there in the cemetery, son of a b****."
The three-time F1 champion is now being questioned by the federal prosecutor's office of Brasilia, which has accused him of inciting violence. Both the former racer and the fan will be called to testify to the federal police.
The federal prosecutor's office released a statement addressing the incident which talked about how a person with Piquet’s popularity should be aware of his comments. The statement said, "Nelson Piquet is a person of public notoriety and, because of that, he should know his statements have the potential of reaching hundreds of thousands of people."
Earlier this year, Piquet was entangled in another controversy as videos surfaced where he was using homophobic language and racial slurs towards seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton. The Brazilian received a lot of criticism from the F1 drivers, teams, and governing body FIA. Piquet issued a public apology saying that his comments didn’t have racist intent.
Piquet said, "I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour."
