25/03/2023
NEWS STORY
Three-time world champion, Nelson Piquet has been fined almost $1m for racist and homophobic comments made in relation to Lewis Hamilton.
Judge Pedro Matos de Arrudo fined the Brazilian, who won his titles with Brabham and Williams, in a case brought about by four human rights groups including Brazil's National LGBT+ Alliance.
In 2021, Piquet used a racially offensive term while referring to the seven-time world champion in an interview relating to the clash with Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix.
In a subsequent interview he used racist and homophobic language while referring to Hamilton's 2016 championship battle with Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg.
Insisting that he never meant to offend, Piquet claimed the expression he used was 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 had previously apologised for his "ill-thought-out" comments, which were described by Hamilton as coming from those with "archaic mind-sets".
The judge said the amount of compensation was given "in the sense that one should not only appreciate the reparative function of civil liability but also (and perhaps mainly) the punitive function so that, as a society, we can someday be free from the pernicious acts that are racism and homophobia".
Piquet, whose daughter Kelly is Verstappen's partner, was fined five million Brazilian Reals ($953,000 / £780,000), though those who brought about the case were seeking twice that amount.