The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2022
A racial slur cost a three-time F1 champion his paddock pass and a R$5m fine
A racial slur about Lewis Hamilton surfaced in June 2022; F1 banned Piquet from the paddock, BRDC moved to strip his membership, and a court fined him R$5m.
BRDC · Formula One · 2022-06
What happened
Nelson Piquet, Formula One world champion in 1981, 1983 and 1987, gave an interview in late 2021 in which he used a racial slur about Lewis Hamilton. The clip surfaced on 27 June 2022, days before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which the BRDC — of which Piquet was an honorary member — owns.
Piquet apologised, saying the word was 'widely and historically used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese' and was never intended to offend. Within 72 hours the BRDC suspended his membership and said its board would terminate it after the required notice, and Formula One banned him from the paddock indefinitely.
In March 2023 a Brazilian court ordered him to pay R$5m (£780,000) over racist and homophobic comments about Hamilton, including the slur and language about Hamilton losing the 2016 title to Nico Rosberg. The judge said the sum was meant so society could 'someday be free from the pernicious acts that are racism and homophobia'.
Why it happened
- The slur had sat unnoticed in a Portuguese interview until the clip surfaced in British Grand Prix week; the sport's anti-racism stance left no room to look past a slur about its biggest star.
- BRDC and F1 acted in 72 hours because keeping an honorary member the paddock could not defend cost more than the association with a three-time champion was worth.
- The Brazilian court's R$5m fine made the organisations' reading official, confirming the conduct was real rather than the translation dispute Piquet claimed.
The lesson
A legend's status is not protection: a slur about the sport's biggest star ended Piquet's paddock access within three days, and a court later confirmed the cost with a R$5m fine.
Aftermath
Piquet maintained the word was colloquial for 'guy', but the Brazilian court found the comments racist and homophobic and ordered the R$5m payment. He never returned to the F1 paddock; the honorary membership was set to be terminated by the BRDC board after the suspension.
Sources
- Lewis Hamilton: BRDC suspends Nelson Piquet over racially abusive language about British driver — BBC Sport, 30 Jun 2022
- Nelson Piquet fined for racist and homophobic comments about Lewis Hamilton — BBC Sport, 25 Mar 2023
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