Lewis Hamilton asks ‘Why are we giving older voices a platform?’ amid Formula 1 racism storm

Lewis Hamilton has asked why ‘older voices’ are given a platform amid an ongoing racism storm in Formula 1 after Nelson Piquet branded him the N-word and Bernie Ecclestone defended him.

Responding to the row that has engulfed the sport over the last few days, the seven-time world champion said 69-year-old Piquet and 91-year-old Ecclestone are ‘not representative of who we are now in the sport’. 

Earlier this week video was released showing former Formula 1 world champion Piquet calling Hamilton the N-word in an interview, and has since apologised ‘wholeheartedly’ while insisting his words had been mistranslated.

Ecclestone, who is a long-time friend of the Brazilian’s came out in defence of him on Good Morning Britain today, saying Hamilton should ‘brush aside’ the racial slur and ‘be happy’ with the apology. 

During the interview the business magnate also outrageously claimed Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has led the recent invasion of Ukraine and displaced millions of families from their homes, is a ‘first class person’ and ‘sensible’.

His former colleagues were quick to distance themselves from his remarks, with F1 releasing a statement to say they were ‘in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of our sport.’ 

Speaking ahead of the British Grand Prix, which is being held at Silverstone this weekend, Hamilton said he didn’t understand why ‘older voices’ such as Piquet and Ecclestone were being given such a platform. 

‘I don’t know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform,’ said Hamilton.

‘They are speaking for our sport, but we are looking to go somewhere different and they are not representative of who we are now in the sport and where we are planning to go.

‘If we are looking to grow our audiences in places like the US and South Africa, we need to be giving the younger people a platform that is more representative of today’s time and who we are trying to be.

‘It is not just about one individual, or the use of that term, but the bigger picture.’

Hamilton continued: ‘I am incredibly grateful to all of those who have been supportive within the sport, particularly the drivers.

‘It has been two years since many of us took the knee at the first race in Austria and we are still faced with challenges.

‘I have been on the receiving end of racism and criticism and that negativity and archaic narratives for a long time and undertones of discrimination, so there is nothing new for me.’ 

Hamilton further added: ‘I put to F1 and to the media that we should not be giving these people a platform – these old voices, who, whether it is subconscious or conscious, do not agree people like me should be in this sport.

‘I don’t think in the last couple of weeks a day has gone by where some of the older people, who have not been relevant in our sport for decades, are trying to say negative things and bring me down.

‘But I am still here, still standing strong and trying to do my work and pushing diversity. Discrimination exists. It is still all around us. Enough is enough.

‘I have tried to take that high road and avoid it, but no one should have to brush off racism and it shouldn’t be for me to have to brush it off. We need big organisations to take a stand.’

Hamilton also took aim at Good Morning Britain for inviting Ecclestone on to their programme.

He continued: ‘There needs to be some accountability. You know what you are going to get with that, and I don’t know what their (GMB’s) goal is and if they were seeking to create and divide here in the UK.

‘We don’t need any more of it. To hear from someone that believes in the war, and the displacement of millions of people and killing of thousands people, and supporting that person (Putin) who is doing that, is beyond me. I cannot believe I heard that today.

‘It is affecting all those people out there and people around the world. This is going to put us back decades, and we have yet to see the real brunt of the pain.

‘So, why? We do not need to be supporting that but looking into the future. We need more positivity. If you don’t have anything positive to contribute to where we want to be going and where we want to be, don’t give them any space.’

His remarks come after Piquet, whose 33-year-old daughter Kelly is dating Hamilton’s championship rival Max Verstappen, used the racial slur to refer to him in an interview in August. 

The interview, which was in Portuguese, was translated into English this week, at which point he was revealed calling Hamilton the  N-word while discussing his crash with Verstappen at Silverstone last year.

While the Brazilian has apologised and insisted his language had no racist intent, he has been banned from the paddock at the upcoming British Grand Prix.

Social media users reacted furiously to Piquet’s comments, with one tweeting: ‘What a small minded idiot’, while others accused him of being ‘racist.’ 

But Ecclestone, his long time pal, rushed to his defence today in an extraordinary interview on Good Morning Britain.

Appearing from a sunny rooftop in Ibiza, the former owner of Formula 1 said: ‘I’ve known Nelson for an awful long time. I was with him a couple of weeks ago. 

‘It’s not the sort of thing Nelson would say meaning something bad.

‘He probably thinks lots of things he says which might upset us or might feel a little bit offensive…. to him it’s nothing. It’s just part of conversation.

‘Nelson would never go out of his way to say anything bad, certainly. 

‘I think what probably happened, knowing Nelson as I know him, as his daughter is the girlfriend of Max Verstappen, probably after seeing the accident, he probably exploded and carried that forward.’ 

Ecclestone discovered Piquet, the son of a prominent Brazilian politician, more than 40 years ago, when he would sneak him onto the track in the boot of his car. 

Looking back on how he helped shape him into the champion he became, Ecclestone said in a 2020 interview that Brazilian Piquet was ‘special’, and a ‘super competitor’ who ‘wanted to win.

Hamilton has called for Bernie Ecclestone and Sir Jackie Stewart to be censored, and declared ‘enough is enough’.

However, triple world champion Jackie Stewart, 83, said recently that Hamilton should ‘resign’ after struggling for results this season. 

Ecclestone’s wife, Fabiana, 45, is also Brazilian. They met in 2009 when she was in the marketing department for the Brazilian Grand Prix. 

She was elected vice-president of the motoring governing body FIA last year, covering the South American region, which raised eyebrows among industry leaders. 

During today’s interview Ecclestone, who has a history of making outrageous statements, also said he would ‘still take a bullet’ for warring Russian president Vladimir Putin – even after his bloody invasion of Ukraine. 

It comes after Russian attacks on apartment buildings and a shopping mall in Ukraine this week, the latter of which was branded a war crime by western leaders. 

Ecclestone, however, said such civilian losses were ‘not intentional’, despite tens of thousands of innocents feared dead at the hands of indiscriminate shelling. 

The billionaire is a long-time admirer of Putin and the duo have been seen at sporting events together, often in deep conversation or laughing. 

Their friendship blossomed following the introduction of the Russian Grand Prix in 2014.

Even the day after Russian troops stormed Ukraine in February this year, Ecclestone described Putin as ‘honourable’ and someone who ‘did exactly what he said he was going to do without any arguments.’ 

Speaking this morning, Ecclestone sparked outrage when he took a shot at Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he was a comedian before the Ukraine war and appeared to ‘want to continue being one.’ 

He then insisted the invasion ‘could have ended differently’ if Zelensky had ‘talked with Putin’. 

When pressed by journalist Kate Garraway, who asked if he believed a change in Zelensky’s actions, rather than Putin’s, could have avoided war, Ecclestone replied: ‘Absolutely.’

He added: ‘What he’s doing is something he believed was the right thing for Russia. 

‘Unfortunately, like a lot of business people, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time, and when you’ve made the mistake you have to do the best you can to get out of it.’

He added: ‘I think if it had been conducted properly – I mean the other person in Ukraine… I understand he used to be a comedian, and I think he seems to want to continue that profession… I think if he had thought about things he would have definitely made a big enough effort to speak to Mr Putin, who is a sensible person and would have listened to him and probably done something about it.’  

Presenter Ben Shephard quizzed Ecclestone about the thousands of innocent lives killed in Ukraine, asking him: ‘You can’t justify that, surely?’ 

Ecclestone responded: ‘I don’t. It wasn’t intentional – look at all times America has moved into different countries which is nothing to do with America.’ 

He added: ‘And I’m quite sure Ukraine, if they’d wanted to get out of it properly, could have done.’

Asked if he has had a chance to speak to Putin about ‘what a mess’ the situation is or urged him to rethink what he is doing, Ecclestone said: ‘No. He’s probably thought about that himself. He probably doesn’t need reminding.

‘I’m absolutely sure he now wishes he hadn’t started this whole business, but didn’t start as a war.’

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has led the condemnation of his remarks, telling GMB: ‘I think those comments are extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary.’

She added: ‘This is a man who has perpetrated an appalling war, involving the systematic rape of women, the targeting of civilians in shopping centres.

‘I find those comments absolutely extraordinary by Bernie Ecclestone. Clearly Vladimir Putin is toxic, the Prime minister is right to have said that.’ 

Ms Truss said she found ‘apologists’ for Putin ‘absolutely shocking’, when they can clearly see the ‘appalling’ atrocities unfolding in Ukraine. 

Formula One added: ‘The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of our sport.’ 

It is not the first time Ecclestone has courted controversy after first offering to take a bullet for Putin, a longtime friend of his, in 2019. 

He said at the time that he would ‘stand in front of a machine gun’ to save him, because he is a ‘good guy.’ 

He said he did not believe he was behind the infamous Novichok attack in Salisbury, accusing people of making things up. 

He said: ”He didn’t do that. He would be too busy to be worrying about that sort of thing. Storytellers make these things up.’ 

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok on March 4 2018.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after she came into contact with a perfume container used to carry the Novichok on June 30.

The two suspects – known by their aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov – were caught on CCTV in Salisbury the day before the attack, and in an interview claimed they were just visiting to see the town to see the cathedral.

The Russian government has always denied any involvement in the incident. 

The ex-F1 boss also said he thought Putin should be running Europe and that the invasion of Crimea was just to ‘bring Russia back together.’

He added: ‘I would like him running Europe,’ he says. ‘We haven’t got anybody, so it couldn’t be any worse. He does what he says he is going to do . . .

‘I am not a supporter of democracy. You need a dictator. As a dictator, you say, ‘This is what I am going to do.’ In a democracy, it gets watered down.’

Mr Eccelstone is a known admirer of the Russian President, and the duo have been seen at sporting events together.

They were spotted deep in conversation at the Russian Grand Prix in 2014 and Mr Eccelstone previously described Putin as a ‘first-class person’.

It is not the first time Mr Ecclestone – who stood down at the CEO of Formula One in 2017 – has stirred controversy.

He was previously forced to apologise when speaking in praise of Adolf Hitler, saying he was a man that could ‘get things done.’ 

At the same time, he accused Jews of failing to solve the banking crisis, even though ‘they have a lot of influence everywhere’. 

A spokesman for Germany’s Central Council of Jews said: ‘No team should work with him any more – a boycott would be more than appropriate.’

Later, Ecclestone said he was ‘so sorry’ and called himself ‘an idiot’. 

He insisted ‘things were taken a little bit wrong’ and his praise of the German tyrant was ‘not what he meant’ before adding: ‘Those who don’t know me think I support Hitler’s atrocities; those who do know me have told me how unwise I was to articulate my points so badly that it should have been so widely misunderstood.

‘During the 1930s Germany was facing an economic crisis but Hitler was able to rebuild the economy, building the autobahns and German industry.

‘That was all I meant when I referred to him getting things done.

‘I’m an admirer of good leadership, of politicians who stand by their convictions and tell the voters the truth.

‘I’m not an admirer of dictators, who rule by terror.’

In another interview, he added: ‘Hitler brought a country that was bankrupt into a country that was very strong and that was really demonstrating what someone could do if they had the power and didn’t have to keep back and referring every five minutes.

‘The trouble with politicians and democracy is they all the time have to compromise, they can’t do what they want to do because there is somebody in opposition. I regret it didn’t come out like that.’

In The Times interview, Ecclestone also referred to close friend Max Mosley, who was President of the motor racing body, the FIA, before taking his own life last May.

He then suggested the son of British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley would do a ‘super job’ as Prime Minister.

Mosley fought a privacy battle with a Sunday newspaper after he was exposed enjoying what was described as a Nazi-themed sadomasochistic orgy.

However, a judge later ruled there was no evidence of the ‘Nazi theme’ and Ecclestone said of Mosley: ‘He’s a good leader with people. 

‘I don’t think his background would be a problem.’ 

In 2014, Mr Ecclestone was cleared of bribery charges after he paid a German criminal court £60million.

The case has caused anger in Germany where critics said Ecclestone – who was accused of paying a banker a £27million bribe – had been ‘washed clean’ thanks to his ‘spectacular’ payment.

Campaigners said allowing the defendant to use his wealth to stop a criminal prosecution was ‘worrying’.