Sports Evolve
Nelson Piquet – Max Verstappen’s father in law has been ordered to pay the Brazilian government 5,000,000 Brazilian Reals ($953, 050) to the Brazilian government for derogatory comments against Lewis Hamilton.
The former formula 1 champion in an interview in November 2021 used racist and homophobic slurs against Sir lewis Hamilton in reference to his crash with his son in law Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix.
A footage of the interview resurfaced last June and Hamilton called for action against such “archaic mindsets” terming the sentiments as not just words but an actual attitude claiming he has been surrounded by such in the course of his career considering he is the only black driver on the grid.
The fine comes after an investigation by the Brazilian government and since Lewis is an honorary Brazilian citizen the government swopped in for action.
Neslon Piquet Snr is the father to Max Verstappen’s girlfriend Kelly Piquet. The 70 year old former F1 driver had apologized saying his comments had been misinterpreted but it was not the first time he had used such language against Lewis.
In another clip that resurfaced later Mr. Piquet had used racist slurs in describing how Hamilton lost the championship to his then team mate Nico Rosberg.
Max Verstappen accused of “concocting” problem at Red Bull in Sergio Perez fight
Max Verstappen appeared confused after facing mechanical problems during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but Eddie Jordan has doubts about the legitimacy of the issue.
Verstappen had expressed concerns about his downshifts during free practice, suggesting a potential gearbox problem, and a drive shaft problem during qualifying led to an early end to his session.
This resulted in him starting 15th on the grid, but he managed to finish second in the race with his fast Red Bull car, although he was unable to overtake team-mate Sergio Perez for the win.
During the final stages of the race, Verstappen reported vibrations on his car over the radio, but Lambiase, his race engineer, reassured him and he was able to finish the race.
However, Jordan believes that Verstappen may have been exaggerating the issue.
“I think that Max concocted something about a driveshaft so as to make himself look good,” he said on the Formula For Success podcast. “I’m absolutely convinced he was told before he went out, if Checo was leading the race, and he’s been on pole position, you have not [got] ability and you have not got permission to pass him.
“That’s just my view. Because if I was running a team, that is exactly what I would have said before they went out. You don’t have to be Einstein to work it out. Max, in my opinion, found a decent excuse, which was the driveshaft.
” Christian Horner comes out and tells us, ‘No matter what we did, we went back to the base, we went and looked at all of the data and we looked at everything, we couldn’t find anything’. Guys, come on… There’s enough in this to realise that we don’t want to be bulls****ed. This was a situation where Max managed the position to hold his face while still taking second place.”
But former F1 racer David Coulthard is not convinced Jordan is correct. The Scot replied on the same podcast: “I think Max is so much heart on sleeve, that he doesn’t concoct anything – what you see is what you get. A little bit like when he was on the radio saying, ‘What’s the fastest lap?’ And they said, ‘Don’t think about that’. And he’s like, ‘Well, I am’.
“He remembers very well, he went into the final race of the world championship in 2021, equal points with Lewis Hamilton, and they were equal to the half point because of half points being awarded earlier in the year. So that one point for fastest lap could make the difference later in the year because clearly, these cars are very close to the edge.
“So I hear you, EJ, and I know you’ve got your finger on the pulse of the team principals and those that control Formula 1, but I think Max, when he says it, he means that. If he doesn’t say it, it’s because he doesn’t think it.”
