In the Hamilton VS Piquet battle, Lewis Hamilton is finally getting justice.
Justice in the form of £780,000.
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Three time world champion Piquet used a derogatory term in an interview that was given in November last year when speaking about the 2021 British GP. And now, he is finally being made to pay. And a hefty payment it is too.
Justice Is Served
Lewis Hamilton has praised the Brazilian government for holding Piquet accountable for his racist slurs.
There is no place for racism and homophobia in the sport and that means people need to be held accountable and dealt with appropriately.
The Brazilian has been ordered to pay five million Brazilian Reals (£780,000) in moral damages for using a racial slur in reference to Hamilton when commenting about his British Grand Prix crash with Verstappen, the partner of Piquet’s daughter, Kelly.
The decision came after four human rights groups including Brazil’s National LGBT+ Alliance raised charges against Piquet. A decision which means Lewis Hamilton, honorary Brazilian citizen can sleep peacefully knowing that racism in any form, will not be tolerated in the sport.
Is It Enough?
In the Lewis VS Piquet battle Lewis came out on top. In the fight against racism within Formula 1, this was a huge win. But is it enough? Has Formula 1 as an organization done enough?
As for the money…
For most of us £780,000 is a hell of a lot of money. I don’t know about you but Formula 1 tickets are expensive enough let alone that kind of money. But how much of a dent does it make in Piquet’s wallet?
A man with an £164 million net worth.
Brazil Leading The Fight Against Racism
But Hamilton is pleased and isn’t that what really matters?
The 7 time world champion has always been one of the most vocal drivers when it comes to human rights particularly in Hungary and Saudi Arabia. And this decision gives him hope that countries in the Middle East and Africa can learn a lot from Brazil. Homosexuality for example is prevalent in over 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East including Uganda where there is a death penalty for homosexuality.
Which leads us to the bigger question.
Why is Formula 1 not boycotting countries with less tolerant LGBTQ + rights?
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Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.