Brazilian court orders Nelson Piquet to pay $953k in damages after racist comments against Lewis Hamilton

Three Brazilian Formula 1 Champions Nelson Piquet must pay $953,050 (5 million Brazilian Reals) in mental damages for racist and anti-gay comments against the Mercedes driver Lewis HamiltonA Brazilian court ruled Friday.

In a November 2021 interview, Piquet used racist language in reference to the seven-time world champion, when commenting on Hamilton’s British Grand Prix collision with Max Verstappen.

Hamilton Call to action to change “old-fashioned thinking” after footage of the interview surfaced on social media last June. Piquet, 70, apologized to the British driver and said his comment had been mistranslated. Piquet’s daughter Kelly is Verstappen’s partner.

In another clip that emerged later, Piquet used racist and anti-Hamilton language in a podcast interview when describing how Hamilton missed out on the 2016 championship. Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton, who was awarded Brazilian honorary citizenship June last year, was the sport’s only Black racer.

Allegations brought by four human rights groups, including Brazil’s National LGBT+ Alliance, want Piquet to pay 10 million Brazilian Reals for alleged moral damages.

In his decision, Judge Pedro Matos de Arrudo said the amount of compensation was offered “in the sense that one not only appreciates the indemnification function of civil liability but also [and perhaps mainly] punitive function so that, as a society, we can one day get rid of the dangerous behaviors that are racist and homophobic.”