Pique, who is the father of Max Verstappen’s partner Kelly Pique, was on a Brazilian podcast last November discussing the clash between Hamilton and Verstappen during the 2021 British GP, when he used a racist offensive Portuguese. The word used by the 69-year-old is reported to be equivalent to or similar to the word N. The comments just came to light and Formula 1 issued a statement supporting seven-time champion Hamilton before responding. Pique apologized Wednesday and said his comments were “inappropriate” – but denied any racial intent. Former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone defended Piquet earlier today, saying he was surprised Hamilton had not “sidelined” him and defended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. In view of the British GP on Thursday, Hamilton faced the media for the first time since the appearance of Piquet’s comments. Without naming Pique or Ecclestone, Hamilton said: “I do not know why we continue to give these older voices a platform because they talk about our sport and we want to go somewhere completely different. And it does not represent, I think, who we are a sport now and where do we intend to go “. “These old voices you know, either subconsciously or consciously, do not agree that people like me, for example, should be in a sport like this, they do not agree that women should be here,” she added. Hamilton had already posted on social media that “the archaic mentality must change” in response to Pique, 69, and expanded to Silverstone. Image: Lewis Hamilton (L) responded to Nelson Piquet’s comments “I have been accepting racism, criticism, negativity, archaic narratives and discrimination for a long, long time and there is nothing particularly new about me,” said the seven-time F1 champion. “It’s more for the bigger picture. “I do not know why we continue to give a platform to these older voices. “They talk about our sport and we want to go somewhere completely different. If we want to grow in the US, in other countries, in South Africa, we have to look to the future and give young people a platform that is more representative of today. “It does not concern just one person, it does not concern the use of this term, it is the bigger picture.” Speaking to the media, Hamilton said discrimination “is not something we should promote and promote, providing a platform to divide people”. He added: “We have to bring people together, we are all the same. “It’s not helpful, the comments we see from some people. I do not think a day has passed where older people – who have not been relevant to our sport for decades – do not say negative things and try to throw me down. “But I’m still here, I’m still strong, I’m focused on my job and I’re really trying to push for diversity and integration into our body.” Asked if he had lost respect for these “older voices”, he said: “I always tried to take the high road, I always tried to respect these people. “But, as I said before, why do we give these guys a platform? They are not in the season, they are clearly not willing to change.” He continued: “In these times of discrimination and petty aggression, in today’s world it just does not help and creates a bigger gap. I like how Michelle Obama says “when they fall low, they go high”, so I try to keep doing it, I’m inspired by people like that. “I’m still here, he’s not going to stop me from doing what I think is right and doing what I love, which is working in this sport.” Hamilton encourages F1 to do more to expand diversity and participation in sport car. They announced the first grants today. Pique, meanwhile, has been suspended from his honorary membership in the British Race Drivers Association (BRDC) today, which owns and runs the Silverstone circuit used for this week’s Grand Prix. The BRDC noted that Pique’s use of “racially abusive language” to describe a fellow BRDC member was unacceptable and represented behavior that was completely inappropriate for an BRDC Honorary Member, despite his subsequent apology. She added that her board is expected to cancel Pique’s participation in an upcoming meeting.
