Nelson Piquet was once seen as a Formula 1 legend, winning three championships and amassing 23 wins, however the Brazilian tarnished his name last year when he made racist and homophobic slurs about Lewis Hamilton.
Piquet called the seven-time world champion a “neguinho” and also claimed that Nico Rosberg only won the title in 2016 because Hamilton was busy “giving a**”.
The 70-year-old defended his actions, suggesting that it was all a big misunderstanding and that his words had been lost in translation, with the word supposedly being used to mean ‘guy’ or ‘person’ in Portuguese.
“I would like to clear up the stories circulating in the media about a comment I made in an interview last year,” said the disgraced champion.
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“What I said was ill-thought-out, and I make no defence for it, but I will clarify that the term used is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend.”
The Brazilian has never been looked at the same since, and now has found himself embroiled in further controversy after making comments on camera about Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who recently beat Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian presidential elections.
The outcome of this election has sparked chaos in Brazil, with road blocks and protests being put in place as a show of discontent by those who are against Bolsonaro.
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Piquet has been filmed covered in green paint at a protest, and when a camera was pointed in his face saying “look who I’m with here, this big champion Nelson Piquet,” the Brazilian replies “we’re going to get Lula, son of a b****, get out of here.”
It is usually well advised that athletes steer clear of political drama, with the impact it can have on their reputation sometimes being catastrophic, but it seems Piquet is not afraid to say what he wants, no matter how much trouble it seems to get him in.
The scenes in Brazil initially put the Grand Prix in doubt, with Ferrari’s equipment getting caught up in the blockades, however it has now been confirmed by Formula 1 that it will go ahead as planned.