F1 drivers come to Hamilton's defense after Piquet's racist speech went viral

After George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Lando Norris, more colleagues from the Formula 1 grid decided to publicly show support for Lewis Hamilton after the video interview with Nelson Piquet, in which he uses a racist word to refer to the Englishman, viral on social networks and echoed in the international press on Tuesday (28). Messages repudiating the discrimination suffered by the Mercedes representative were shared by other drivers on social networks.

Daniel Ricciardo used his Instagram account to say that "discrimination and racism have no place in this sport, nor in our society. "Those who choose to spread hate and use these words are not my friends," he continued.

The Australian further extolled Hamilton's fight for inclusion, saying at the end of the message that the seven-time champion can always count on his support. "I want to pay my appreciation to Lewis and all the work he has done on and off the track, not only spreading messages of equality, but fighting hate. I have never dealt with any action motivated by racism, but he has been dealing with it all his life. However, each time his response to hate is motivated by maturity, positivity, he educates the world on how we should act. I am on his side and will do whatever it takes to follow and support him."

Mick Schumacher also showed support for Hamilton via stories on Instagram. The Haas driver shared a picture of Hamilton with the British flag in black and wrote "We are with you Lewis.

Another one who also registered his rejection to racism suffered by the seven-time champion was Guanyu Zhou. The Chinese wrote in his social networks the following: "I join Lewis and the motorsport community against any form of racism, discrimination and prejudice."

Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, retweeted Ferrari's message, saying "We stand with F1, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes against any form of discrimination." While Pierre Gasly shared via stories on Instagram the following message, "You can't love culture and not support people."

The comment with the use of racist term by Nelson Piquet occurred last year, when the three-time champion was commenting on the crash between the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. In the video, which gained repercussion in the international press, journalist Ricardo Oliveira questioned Piquet about a similar maneuver by Ayrton Senna in the past, and the three-time champion disagreed. "The 'neguinho' put the car in and didn't let [Verstappen] pass. [...] The 'neguinho' left the car, because there was no way to pass two cars in that corner. [...] The 'neguinho' did it as a joke," said Piquet in the interview on November 3, 2021.

The fact generated public expressions of repudiation from Formula 1, which did not mention Piquet's name in an official statement released. "Discriminatory or racist language is unacceptable in any form and is not part of society. Lewis is an incredible ambassador for our sport and deserves respect. His tireless efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are a lesson to many and something we are committed to in F1," the F1 statement said.

Mercedes has also officially spoken out about the language used by Piquet. "We condemn in the strongest terms any use of racist or discriminatory language of any kind. Lewis has led our sport's efforts to combat racism and he is a true champion of diversity on and off the track. Together, we share a vision of diverse and inclusive motorsport, and this incident highlights the fundamental importance of continuing to strive for a better future," the team said.

The FIA also repudiated the event, saying in an official statement on its Twitter account that it "strongly condemns any racist or discriminatory language and behavior, which has no place in sport or society in general. We express our solidarity with Lewis Hamilton and fully support his commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in motor sport.