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Ecclestone defends Piquet statements: ‘Hamilton should have ignored it’

Bernie Ecclestone has tried to put Nelson Piquet’s statements about Lewis Hamilton in a different perspective, saying the Brazilian had absolutely no intention of being racist. According to him, Piquet exploded after the incident at Silverstone last year, because his daughter is in a relationship with Max Verstappen.

Everyone remembers the huge clash between Hamilton and Verstappen at Silverstone last year. The two rivals came into contact on the track, after which Verstappen crashed into the wall at high speed. It was a huge crash, which caused quite a stir. Piquet, whose daughter is in a relationship with Verstappen, spoke out in an interview shortly after this incident, using the Brazilian variant of the N-word towards Hamilton. These statements were recently surfaced and caused quite a stir in the paddock. Piquet is now in danger of being banned from the circuits, but Ecclestone says the former driver didn’t mean it to be that extreme.

Piquet did not make statements with wrong intention

Ecclestone, who was the boss of Formula 1 for many years, maintains a good relationship with Piquet and says his friend meant no harm. “I’ve known Nelson for a long time. I was with him a few weeks ago. It’s not that he would say things like this with a bad intention,” the 91-year-old Briton told Good Morning Britain† According to Ecclestone, this is simply the way Piquet expresses himself. “A lot of things he thinks or says might upset us or make us feel aggressive, but to him it’s nothing. It’s just part of the conversation.”

Piquet exploded after Verstappen crash

“Nelson would never consciously say anything bad, certainly not,” the Briton continues his story. “What I think probably happened is that Nelson – as I know him – probably exploded after the crash (at Silverstone), as his daughter is Max Verstappen’s girlfriend, and said that.” According to Ecclestone, the use of the N-word in Brazilian is also completely different than with us in the West. “It’s not really appropriate for us, but probably nothing terrible will happen if you say that in Brazil.”

Ecclestone: Hamilton should have ignored it

The former boss of Formula 1 therefore believes that Hamilton should have ignored Piquet’s statements. “I’m surprised Lewis didn’t just ignore it. But now he’s come out and Nelson has apologised,” Ecclestone said.

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