F1 Champion Nelson Piquet Apologizes for 'Ill-Thought Out' Comments About Lewis Hamilton, Denies Racist Intent

Nelson Piquet is apologizing for his comments about Lewis Hamilton.

According to ESPN, the 69-year-old Formula One champion reportedly used a racial slur to describe Lewis while blaming him for a collision with Max Verstappen, who is dating his daughter Kelly, at last year’s British Grand Prix.

Lewis addressed the situation on Twitter, writing that “these archaic mindsets need to change.” Several teams and drivers also issued statements in support of the seven-time world champion.

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Nelson apologized on Wednesday (June 29), claiming that the word he used does not have a racial connotation in Brazil.

“I would like to clear the stories circulating in the media about a comment I made in an interview last year,” he said.

“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 in Brazilian Portuguese for a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend. I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations,” he continued.

“I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin color. I apologize wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct. Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect.”

In case you missed it, Lewis recently announced he would be making a big change to honor his mother.