Nelson Piquet fined nearly $1 million for racist and homophobic comments about Lewis Hamilton

Three-time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet was ordered to pay a fine of nearly $1 million (five million reais) in moral damages for racist and homophobic comments aimed at Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, a court ruling published on March 24 said.

“The Substitute Judge of the 20th Civil Court of Brasilia sentenced former Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet Souto Maior to pay R$ 5 million in compensation for collective moral damages, to be allocated to funds for the promotion of racial equality and discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community, due to the offenses made against current Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton,” the court statement said, according to CNN.

Piquet used a Brazilian Portuguese racial and homophobic slur during a TV interview in November 2021 to describe seven-time champion Hamilton when addressing a high-speed collision involving Hamilton and Max Verstappen during the Silverstone Grand Prix.

The clip became viral and drew a negative reaction towards Piquet, who later apologized for his remarks – a point also reinforced by the court statement.

“The defendant, in his defense, argued that he had already recanted the way he treated the English driver, but that his conduct did not characterize racism or homophobia, and there was no need to speak of hate speech or offense to the black population or the LGBTQIA+ community in general,” the court statement said.

“He maintained that, despite the use of inappropriate language, there was no intention to harm Hamilton’s honor or anyone else’s. Thus, as it was not a case of hate speech, the duty to indemnify would not be characterized.”

The statement, however, reinforced that Piquet’s actions “affect not only the individual rights of the victim, but the values of the entire community, and of the black population and the LGBTQIA+ community in particular.”