Former Formula One champion Nelson Piquet apologised to Lewis Hamilton today, saying the racial term he used about the Mercedes driver was "ill thought out" but was not meant to be offensive.
The 69-year-old Brazilian has faced heavy criticism this week over comments he made in Portuguese last November on a podcast where he referred to Hamilton as "neguinho," which means "little Black guy."
"What I said was ill thought out, and I make no defense 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," Piquet, who won three F1 titles in the 1980s, said in the statement. "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 color."
Piquet used the term three times during the interview as he discussed a crash between Hamilton — a seven-time F1 champion and the only Black driver in the sport — and Max Verstappen during last year's British Grand Prix. His daughter Kelly Piquet is Verstappen's girlfriend.
