Lewis Hamilton said that Formula 1 should ignore the “old voices” and reject racism, as it focuses on making it more inclusive.
Pique, who is the father of Max Verstappen’s partner, Kelly Pique, was in a Brazilian podcast last November, discussing the clash between Hamilton and Verstappen during the 2021 British Grand Prix, when he used a racially offensive expression in Portuguese.
The word the 69-year-old used was reported to be equivalent to or similar to the N-word.
The comments have just come to light and Formula 1 issued a statement in support of seven-time champion Hamilton before he responded.
Pique apologized on Wednesday, saying his comments were “ill-considered” – but denied any racial intent.
Former longtime Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone defended Pique earlier today, saying he was surprised Hamilton had not “swept him away” and defended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ahead of the British Grand Prix on Thursday, Hamilton appeared in the media for the first time since Pique’s comments surfaced.
Without mentioning Pique or Ecclestone by name, Hamilton said: “I don’t know why we keep giving platform to these older voices because they talk about our sport and we’re looking to go somewhere completely different. And it’s not I think a representative of who we are as a sport now and where we plan to go. “
“These old voices are, you know, subconsciously or consciously, they don’t agree that people like me, for example, should be in a sport like this, they don’t agree that women should be here,” he added.
Hamilton had already posted on social media that “archaic thinking needs to change” in response to Pique, 69, and he expanded to Silverstone.
Image: Lewis Hamilton (L) responded to comments made by Nelson Pique
“I’ve been getting racism, criticism, negativism, archaic stories and nuances of discrimination for a long, long time, and there’s nothing particularly new to me,” said the seven-time Formula One champion.
“It’s more about 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 are looking to go somewhere completely different. If we want to develop in the United States, other countries, South Africa, we need to look to the future and give a platform to younger people who are more representative of today.
“It’s not just about one person, it’s not about the one-time use of the term, it’s about the bigger picture.”
Speaking at a media briefing, Hamilton said discrimination “is not something we should design and promote by providing a platform for dividing people.”
He added: “We need to bring people together, we are all the same.
“It’s not helpful, the comments we see from some people. I don’t think a day has gone by that people who are older – who haven’t been relevant to our sport for decades – haven’t said negative things and trying to knock me down.
“But I’m still here, I’m still strong, I’m focused on my work and I’m really trying to push for diversity and inclusion in our organization.”
Asked if he had lost respect for these “older voices”, he said: “I have always tried to take the main road, I have always tried to treat these people with respect.
“But like I said before, why do we give these guys a platform? They’re not out of time, they obviously don’t want to change.”
He continued: “In these times of discrimination and micro-aggression, in today’s world this is simply not useful and creates more division.
“I love how Michelle Obama says, ‘When they fall, go up,’ so I try to keep doing that, I’m inspired by people like that.”
“I’m still here, it won’t stop me from doing what I think is right and doing what I love, which is a job in this sport.”
Hamilton encourages F1 to do more to expand the diversity and inclusion of the sport and works with its Mercedes team to fund projects to promote more women’s participation in car racing and engineering scholarships for black students with a focus on car racing. They announced the first grants today.
Pique, meanwhile, was removed today from his honorary membership of the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC), which owns and operates the Silverstone track used for this week’s Grand Prix.
The BRDC noted that Pique’s use of “racially offensive language to describe a member of the BRDC” was unacceptable and constituted conduct that was completely inappropriate for an honorary member of the BRDC, despite his subsequent apology.
He added that his board is expected to cancel Pique’s membership at an upcoming meeting.
Add Comment