Hamilton praises Brazilian government for fining Piquet over offensive comments

Lewis Hamilton has praised the Brazilian government for the action taken against Nelson Piquet over racist and homophobic comments made about the Mercedes F1 driver.

Three-time F1 world champion Piquet was ordered to pay five million Brazilian Reals ($950,000 USD) in moral damages for using racial and homophobic slurs in reference to Hamilton when commenting on his British Grand Prix crash with Max Verstappen, who is the partner of Piquet’s daughter Kelly.

Following the surfacing of Piquet’s comments, Hamilton criticised the “archaic mindsets” cultivated by those such as Piquet, and called for “action” on discrimination in F1.

Piquet later apologised for his “ill-thought-out” remarks.

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Speaking about the news of Piquet’s fine, Hamilton said: ” I still believe that we generally shouldn’t be giving people that are just full of hate a platform.

“I would like to acknowledge the Brazilian government, I think it’s pretty amazing what they have done in holding someone accountable, showing people that it’s not tolerated – racism and homophobia is not acceptable and there is no place for it within our society

“So I love that they have shown that they stand for something. I wish more governments out there would do that.

“Such as you’ve seen in Uganda and over 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East, there’s a lot that can be learned from that.”

The seven-time world champion has been very outspoken on social issues in the paddock and has been pushing for Formula 1 to use its platform for good.

However the FIA introduced a controversial ban on political, personal and religious statements from competitors stating that it was “fundamental” that motorsport remains “neutral and separate from political, religious or personal interference”.