Nelson Piquet has apologized “wholeheartedly” to Lewis Hamilton but “strongly condemns any suggestion” he racially abused his fellow Formula 1 world champion, claiming his comments have been mis-translated.
An interview with the Brazilian from last year surfaced this week, in which he twice used a racially offensive expression when referring to Hamilton.
It led to widespread condemnation from the whole F1 paddock, with Hamilton himself calling for “action” and insisting that “archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport”.
On Wednesday, Piquet issued his own statement where he said he wanted to “clear up the stories”.
“What I said was ill thought out, and I make no defense for it,” said Piquet, a three-time F1 champion.
“But I will clarify that the term used is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend.
“I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin color.
“I apologize wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct.
“Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect.”