Who is Nelson Piquet? Ex-F1 champion abused Lewis Hamilton
Piquet has been condemned following his racist remark towards Lewis Hamilton in an interview back in November 2021.
The comments came after Hamilton collided with Max Verstappen - who’s in a relationship with Piquet’s daughter, Kelly - at the 2021 British Grand Prix.
Piquet criticised the British driver, while also calling him a racist name in his native language.
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Hamilton has since responded on social media with a series of tweets and F1 has released a statement in response to Piquet’s comments.
Who is Nelson Piquet?
Piquet is a three-time F1 world champion, winning the 1981, 1983 and 1987 titles.
The Brazilian competed in his first full season in 1979 with Brabham alongside legendary driver Niki Lauda.
Piquet finished runner-up to Alan Jones in 1980 before winning his first title one year later.
After a disappointing 1982 campaign, Piquet claimed the title in 1983, beating Alain Prost in the finale after the Frenchman was forced to retire to reliability issues.
Two more years at Brabham resulted in a handful of race victories but never close to a third title.
A switch to Williams proved crucial in 1986 as he finished just three points off eventual champion Prost in third.
Piquet secured his third and final F1 title in 1987 ahead of Williams teammate Nigel Mansell in what was an intense teammate relationship.
His switch to Lotus in 1988 meant his career was on a steady decline before retiring at the end of 1991, with his final F1 victory coming at the Canadian GP.
After F1, Piquet attempted to qualify for the Indy 500 but crashed during practice for the 1992 event.
His son in F1
Piquet’s son - Nelson Piquet Jr. - raced in F1 between 2008 and 2009 for Renault.
Piquet Jr. was intense rivals with Hamilton during their days in GP2 together before making the step up to F1.
Unlike his father - and his former rival, Hamilton - Piquet Jr. struggled to make the step up to F1, ultimately being dropped by Renault midway through 2009.
Piquet Jr. is known for his involvement in the 'Crashgate' scandal at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
He crashed deliberately at the Marina Bay Street Circuit with his shunt causing a Safety Car.
As a result, Renault teammate Fernando Alonso benefitted and took the race victory.
What happened in Singapore didn’t come out until a year later, shortly after Piquet Jr. was sacked by Renault.
