In the speech before the British GP, Hamilton and Leclerc shared the press room. Photo by AP / Matt Dunham
The preview of British Grand Prix it began before the riders arrived at Silverstone on Thursday, where the first talks with the accredited press began. It was when Nelson Piquet’s racist statements were leaked, who qualified as “black” to Lewis Hamilton, who provoked the response of the seven-time world champion and the entire world of motorsport. Including Charles Leclerc, until recently leader of the current Formula 1 championship, who made an incredible fury when he defended his colleague.
“Lewis deserves respect, of course. He’s the eight-time, uh, seven-time world champion. But it is much more. He is a person and I think everyone deserves respect, “the Monegasque said in a television interview with the chain Sky. Despite having immediately corrected the error, the Ferrari driver, third among the drivers of the season, left the question open: he was referring to what happened in last year’s definition of Hamilton with Max Verstappen or to the fight that the Englishman could give this year ?
just a month ago, Lewis Hamilton said he was a Ferrari fan and supported Charles Leclerc. Now the leading rider of the Prancing Horse has come out to defend him in a difficult week for the Englishman, as he had already done on social media.
“I’ve known Lewis since I joined Formula 1, he has always been extremely respectful towards me and everyone he meets. Those values should be the standard for any person in the whole world, ”he later said. And I add: “We need to remove discriminatory behavior and racist language in any form not just from our sportbut also of our society.
Leclerc in the Silverstone paddock, where the tenth round of the F1 championship will begin this Friday. Photo by AP / Frank Augstein
He wasn’t the only one referring to the topic. Hamilton also did it when he sat in the chair in the conference room where the drivers are questioned by the press before each race and to which he went with Leclerc.
“I don’t know why we keep giving a platform to these old voices, as they are talking about our sport and we are trying to go in a completely different direction.. And it’s not representative of who we are as a sport right now and where we’re going to go, ” Hamilton said without mentioning Piquet, nor Bernie Ecclestone, the former F1 boss, who came to Piquet’s defense by stating on television. British program that surprised him that Hamilton “did not gloss over” the issue.
“These old voices, subconsciously or consciously, I disagree that people like me play a sport like this, that women are here” Hamilton said in the preview of the British Grand Prix. “Discrimination is not something we should be planning or promoting. Nobody should overlook racism and it is not up to me to ignore it. “
Max Verstappen, reigning champion, Hamilton’s closest rival in 2021 and, moreover, Nelson Piquet’s son-in-law due to his relationship with daughter Kelly, said his father-in-law, a three-time F1 champion, was wrong to use a word that is “very offensive”. ‘, although he made it clear that he does not consider it racist.
He also indicated that Piquet’s lifetime access to the F1 paddock as a former champion should not be revoked. “I think the expression they used, although obviously with different kinds of cultures and things they said when they were little and younger, was not correct,” he determined.
In an awkward position, because he was her father-in-law, Verstappen avoided talking too much about it. Photo REUTERS / Molly Darlington
“Let it be a lesson for the future not to use that word, because it is very offensive and, especially nowadays, it already generates more traction. But I spend a lot of time with Nelson, I think more than the average person in general, he is definitely not a racist, in reality he is a very nice and relaxed guy“, He added.
And, when asked if he had talked to him, Verstappen commented: “It’s not up to me to have to talk to my father-in-law, just like you. I’m not going to call him to say: ‘Hey, that’s not fair’. I think he knows it himself. “
The British GP, where Hamilton took a historic eighth victory last year and clashed with Verstappen on the first lap in that fierce fight for the title that the Dutchman has won, will begin this Friday with training (at 9 and 12 in Argentina) and will continue on Saturday, with the third training session and qualifications – respectively at 8 and 11 -, which will order the starting grid of Sunday’s race at 11 by Star +.
Source: Clarin
