Bernie Ecclestone insists Lewis Hamilton ‘should be happy’ after Nelson Piquet apology | F1 | Sport
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone claims that Lewis Hamilton ‘should be happy’ after Nelson Piquet publicly apologised for using a racial slur when discussing the Brit’s collision with Max Verstappen at Silverstone last year. Hamilton, an avid campaigner for racial equality, spoke out passionately on social media regarding the need to ‘change the mindset’ after footage emerged of the three-time world champion using a Portuguese term that can be translated as the N-word.
Hamilton and Verstappen came together at the British Grand Prix last year, causing a collision that sent the Dutchman careering into the barriers before being whisked off to hospital for precautionary checks. Piquet, whose daughter is in a relationship with Verstappen, referred to Hamilton using a phrase that can be translated as the N-word while giving his opinion on the incident.
Many from the F1 community were quick to condemn the Brazilian, who won world titles in 1981, 1983 and 1987, including Formula 1 themselves, the FIA and Ferrari star Charles Leclerc. Despite that, Ecclestone claims that Hamilton should happily move on after Piquet made a public apology for the incident.
“I’ve known Nelson for an awful long time,” Ecclestone told Good Morning Britain. “I was with him a couple of weeks ago. It’s not the sort of thing Nelson would say meaning something bad.
“He probably thinks lots of things he says which might upset us or might feel a little bit offensive…. to him it’s nothing. It’s just part of conversation. Nelson would never go out of his way to say anything bad, certainly.
“I think what probably happened, knowing Nelson as I know him, as his daughter is the girlfriend of Max Verstappen, probably after seeing the accident, he probably exploded and carried that forward. Well it’s probably not appropriate with us. But probably it isn’t something terrible that happens if you said that in Brazil.
“People say things… if people happen to be a little bit overweight, or undersized like me, I’m quite sure a lot of people have made remarks about that. If I’d have heard it, I’d have been able to deal with it myself without too much trouble.
“I’m surprised Lewis hasn’t just brushed it aside. Or, better than that, replied. But he’s now come out and Nelson has apologised. So everybody seems, or should be, happy.”
Racism in motorsport has been brought back into sharp focus by the footage of Piquet, as well as F2 star Juri Vips who was release from his Red Bull contract on Tuesday after using a racist slur during a gaming live stream.
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