Feedback: your letters

The use of “retard” by a public figure would be more than reprehensible enough, but the use of “mongol”, in this context, without consequence is incomprehensible

Why have Verstappen’s insults gone unpunished?

I am a Formula 1 fan and an Autosport Plus subscriber. Each racing weekend I sit down to watch F1 with my son, who has Down syndrome. I was therefore beyond horrified over Max Verstappen’s comments in FP2 of the Portuguese Grand Prix, when the most cutting insults he could think of to level at Lance Stroll after a clash were “retard” and “mongol”.

I am having a hard time understanding why, given the current anti-discrimination push in F1, more attention is not being paid to this. I hope that Autosport would spend some editorial effort in putting more light on this issue.

The term “mongoloid”, as used to refer to people with trisomy 21, originates from John Langdon Down, who first identified the condition as a syndrome distinct from other disabilities in a paper he wrote in 1866 called Observations on an Ethnic Classification of Idiots. In this short document, he noted that people with what we now know as Down syndrome had some physiological features that gave them an Asian appearance, and mused for this reason that their cognitive disabilities stemmed from them having somehow been born Asian in character – and therefore “degenerate” – despite their European heritage.

The use of “retard” by a public figure would be more than reprehensible enough, but the use of “mongol”, in this context, without consequence is incomprehensible. I would appreciate any effort by Autosport to not let this incident pass as though it were inconsequential.

Rob Ryan-silva

By email

We are in total agreement. Verstappen’s choice of words have no place in any environment. Troublingly, they seem to have passed without remorse. Our technical editor Jake Boxall-legge has addressed this in a column on the Autosport website, which is free for all to read. It also includes comment from the Mongol Identity that seeks to educate people on the meaning of John Langdon Down’s original terminology – ed

Go to autosport.com/f1/news/153109

Weekend of a Champion Time for a sequel to

In Roman Polanski’s film Weekend of a Champion about the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix, you knew Jackie Stewart was going to win – just like Lewis Hamilton in the Portuguese GP. It was another Lewis certainty.

Wouldn’t it be good to have a similar film made on the

50th anniversary (2021) about Hamilton? Different eras and technology. I’m sure Lewis would be up for the challenge. You would see another champion confident in his own ability.

I’ll dream on about Fantasy F1 films!

Stuart Balmer

By email

Hamilton is entitled to respond to criticism

It seems Paul Richards isn’t a fan of Lewis Hamilton (Your Say, 22 October), calling him “immature, petulant and arrogant” and accusing him of giving a childish response to criticism from Jackie Stewart.

I thought you were entitled to respond to criticism, and Stewart is known for his strong opinions, but Paul’s response seems to be clouded by his own personal opinion of Lewis. Perhaps Lewis’s response was because he thought it was a personal insult rather than an indication of how “shallow and insecure he must be”.

Neil Davey

Newport, South Wales