Last week, a Brazilian court pronounced its verdict on the case involving Nelson Piquet’s use of racially insensitive words for Lewis Hamilton. In a 2021 interview, the former 3x F1 champion used some racist and possibly homophobic comments as well. The Brazilian authorities took notice of the matter once the interview caused a huge public outcry in 2022. Lewis Hamilton has now come out to laud the authorities for the swift action and praised the befitting verdict.

The court found Piquet guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of $953,050 for causing moral damages. The judge highlighted the importance of setting the fine amount by citing the need for society to be completely free of “pernicious acts” of racism and homophobia.

Lauding the judgment in an interview in Melbourne on Thursday, Hamilton said, “I think back when it happened I made comments on it. I think I still believe that we generally shouldn’t be giving people that are just full of hate a platform. I’d like to acknowledge the Brazil government. I think it’s pretty amazing what they’ve done in holding someone accountable, showing people that that is not tolerated.”

“I wish that more governments out there would do that, such as you’ve just seen in Uganda [that passed a bill to impose a death penalty for homosexuality].”

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Soon after Piquet’s comments caused a stir, he apologized but justified them by citing his upbringing. One of his relatives came out in his support as well.

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In addition to being Max Verstappen’s girlfriend, Kelly Piquet is also the daughter of Nelson. One of her uncles put out a post supporting the former Brazilian champion, telling how the words in question were in common use when they grew up. He also revealed that their grandma used to call them by that word with affection.

Back then, Hamilton slammed Piquet’s apology and asked for a change in such a mindset. However, Kelly liked the post put out by her uncle that supported her father. Fans did not take well to that either.

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Do you think the penalty imposed on Piquet was enough to act as a deterrent to using his words more carefully in the future? Should more governments, as Lewis said, adopt as stern an approach as the Brazilian authorities have?