Hamilton praises Brazil for fining Piquet over racist comments

Nelson Piquet was fined US$945,000 last weekend for calling Hamilton “neguinho” (“little black”) in a 2021 interview. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton praised Brazil for its action.

Lewis Hamilton Thursday applauded the hefty fine imposed on three-time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet for racist remarks about the British driver, saying people "full of hate" should not be tolerated.

Piquet was fined US$945,000 last weekend for calling Hamilton "neguinho" ("little black") in a 2021 interview.

In handing down its judgement, a court in Brasilia ruled that the "intolerable" remarks constituted a "serious offence to the fundamental values of society".

World champion in 1981, 1983 and 1987, Piquet used the term while criticising Hamilton's role in a clash with Max Verstappen, his daughter Kelly's boyfriend, at the British Grand Prix the same year.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton praised Brazil for its action.

"I still believe that we generally shouldn't be giving people that are just full of hate a platform," he said in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

"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.