Lewis Hamilton has said Formula 1 should pass over “old voices” speaking representatively of the sport, as former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone expressed support for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Hamilton, a seven-time world champion and the only black driver on the grid, was speaking in response to resurfaced comments made last year by Nelson Piquet, in which the three-time titleholder repeatedly referred to Hamilton by a racial term.
Ecclestone defended Piquet, saying he was surprised Hamilton had not “brushed” the comment aside.
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The 91-year-old, who has previously been criticised by Hamilton for comments on racism and diversity in F1, said Piquet’s closeness with reigning drivers’ champion Max Verstappen might explain his comments and that Piquet would “never go out of his way to say anything bad”.
Piquet is the father of Verstappen’s girlfriend of two years, Kelly Piquet.
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“Knowing Nelson as I know him, as his daughter is the girlfriend of Max Verstappen, probably after seeing the accident [between Hamilton and Verstappen during last year’s British Grand Prix] … he probably exploded then and sort of carried that forward,” Ecclestone told British breakfast show Good Morning Britain.
Ecclestone, who controlled F1 for decades before stepping aside in 2017, also defended Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine, saying he would “take a bullet” for the Russian president.
“The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to (the) position of the modern values of our sport,” F1 said in a statement.
Hamilton wondered why Ecclestone was even put on television in the first place.
“Someone that ultimately believes in the war, the displacement of millions of people and the killing of thousands of people? That’s beyond me, and I can’t believe that’s what I heard,” he said.
“I don’t know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform because they’re speaking upon our sport and we’re looking to go somewhere completely different. And it’s not representative, I think, of who we are as a sport now and where we’re planning to go.
“These old voices, whether subconsciously or consciously, do not agree that people like me, for example, should be in a sport like this, do not agree women should be here.
“Discrimination is not something we should be projecting or promoting.”
In an apparent response to Ecclestone’s comments, Hamilton added: “No one should have to brush off racism, and it shouldn’t be for me to brush it off.”
Verstappen said that Piquet had been wrong to use a word he described as “very, very offensive” but doesn’t consider him to be racist.
“Let it be a lesson for the future not to use that word because it’s very, very offensive, and especially nowadays, you know, it gets more and more traction,” he said.
“But I spend a lot of time with Nelson, I think, more than the average person in general. And he’s definitely not a racist, and he’s actually a really nice and relaxed guy.
“I’m pretty sure that, [through] the statement he released, you can see the word in two ways, but I think it’s still better not to use it.”
Verstappen said he had not confronted his “father-in-law” about the incident.
“It’s not up to me to talk to my father-in-law like I think any of you do. We’re not going to call and say, ‘Hey, man, that’s not correct.’ I think he knows that himself,” he said.
Piquet has had his his honorary membership of the British Racing Drivers’ Club suspended, which owns and runs the Silverstone track used for this weekend’s Grand Prix. He also faces his lifetime paddock access, which is bestowed to all former champions, being revoked.
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Piquet apologised to Hamilton on Thursday but said the term, while “ill thought out”, was not meant to be offensive.
There has been widespread condemnation of Piquet’s remarks from F1 management, governing body the FIA and most of the drivers.
Speaking during his press conference, Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu said he experienced a lot of negativity and racist comments on social media around the time he signed his contract to become the first driver from China in F1.
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“Lewis, in a way, is trying to help the world going forward, and it’s not just for us, it’s for the younger generation, to set a better example for them,” he said.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team earlier issued a statement saying “the team do not condone any form of racism.”
It made no mention of Piquet and focused on the team’s decision to fire F2 driver Juri Vips from a test and reserve driver role for using a racial slur during an online gaming live stream.
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