Verstappen reaction to Piquet’s racist bile is a disgrace
Max Verstappen had a chance. He had the chance to show Lewis Hamilton he was not alone in Formula 1, had a chance to make a stand for the young, the new, for a different way of doing things.
He rejected that. He went with the familiar, the old white guys he is most comfortable around as a scion of privilege. When your father is an F1 driver, growing up, you won’t come across many black folk.
Once he entered the industry, Hamilton won’t have come across many, either. that’s why he feels it so strongly. that sense of exclusion, of being the outlier every day, in every room. so when nelson piquet referred to him as ‘neguinho’ — little black man at best, little n***** at worst, depending on context — he had every right to be angry. the ‘neguinho’ has a name. and it is one that should command the greatest respect for any driver in F1 history. piquet is now banned from the paddock, but the wider reaction was telling.
piquet being the father of Verstappen’s girlfriend Kelly, all eyes turned to the champion for a reaction. Verstappen doesn’t have to apologise for something another man said, but the least that could be expected is empathy, even embarrassment, given the connection. Verstappen should at least have known right from wrong in this conversation.
this is what he said. ‘It’s probably not something that’s appropriate with us but it probably isn’t something terrible that happens if you said those things in Brazil. I don’t know what the reaction is there. people say things and talk about people if they happen to be a bit overweight or undersized. I’m sure quite a lot of people have made remarks about that.
‘If I’d heard about it I’d have been able to deal with it without too much trouble and I’m surprised that Lewis hasn’t just brushed it aside or better than that replied. But he’s now come out and nelson’s apologised so everyone should be happy.’
sorry, my mistake, that was 91- year- old Bernie ecclestone talking. Here’s what 24-year-old Verstappen said. ‘I’ve spent a bit of time with nelson and he’s definitely not a racist. He’s actually a really nice and relaxed guy. that word can be interpreted two ways and people pick up on the bad side and, of course, it gets really blown out of proportion.
‘people label him a racist, which I don’t think he is. It’s better to open a conversation than to ban people. You are not helping the situation by doing that. It’s not helping what you are trying to enforce, it’s better to chat. I don’t think he should be banned from the paddock — especially as he’s a three-time world champion.’
so when Hamilton says his sport needs to tune out the voices and opinions of the unreconstructed older generation, that will solve nothing. not much point if the 24-year- olds are just 91-year- olds in waiting.
Yes, Verstappen said other stuff about piquet’s language being wrong, and that it should be a lesson for the future but that seemed to come from a spreadsheet marked anti-racism 1.0.
‘everyone is against racism,’ said Verstappen and, wise words mate, everyone is. right up until it starts to get difficult or might affect them. piquet’s slur occurred while blaming Hamilton for the collision with Verstappen at silverstone last year. Maybe the Dutchman doesn’t want to upset his fan club.
nowhere in Verstappen’s words is there the slightest indication he knows, or cares, what it must have been like for Hamilton in this sport. He thinks he should ‘chat’ to the guy who defined him as neguinho; he thinks piquet’s three titles should bestow special privileges. What about Hamilton’s seven, which we all know should be eight really. shouldn’t they afford him some rights, too? the right not to be referred to by his skin colour, for instance.
Verstappen was in a difficult position, given his connection to the piquet family, but even so, his reaction was a disgrace. If anything positive has come from this it is that those who have condemned Hamilton for posturing and taking the knee, now know what he has been up against throughout his career. It’s not just old, white guys. It’s a hell of a lot bigger, and younger, than that.