Piquet has appeal denied in condemnation of R$ 5 million against Hamilton

Nelson PiquetBrazilian three-time Formula 1 world champion, was denied the embargoes presented to the Court of Justice of the Federal District (TJ-DF) against the decision that condemned him to pay BRL 5 million, in March of this year, for racist statements about Lewis Hamilton, in addition to homophobic speeches against English and pilots Keke and Nico Rosberg. The decision was published last Wednesday, May 31.

Piquet’s defense claimed “there was an omission in the judicial act” in the initial decision. In her opinion, Judge Thaissa de Moura Guimarães states that “the judge is not obliged to pronounce individually on all points and legal provisions mentioned by the parties, but only in relation to those that he deems forceful enough to influence the judicial provision that is made complain.”

Nelson Piquet was spotted using a racist term to refer to Lewis Hamilton, in a 2021 video that circulated on social media and gained repercussions only last year.

It is possible to hear the former driver calling the seven-time champion “little black man” when commenting on an accident involving the Englishman and Max Verstappen – boyfriend of his daughter, Kelly Piquet – during the Silverstone Grand Prix, in England.

“The little black guy put the car in and didn’t let (Verstappen swerve). The little black guy left the car because there was no way to pass two cars on that curve. He did it as a joke. *ta sacanagem”, criticized Piquet, in an interview with journalist Ricardo Oliveira at the time.

Piquet was also convicted of using homophobic terms

Piquet also used homophobic terms to talk about former driver Keke Rosberg and his son Nico. “Keke? He was a piece of shit. He had no value. It’s just like his son (Nico). He won a championship. The little nigger (Hamilton) must have been doing more o**** at the time and it was kind of bad”, said Piquet.

The lawsuit against Piquet was filed by Educafro (responsible for promoting the inclusion of black people in public and private universities), Centro Santo Dias (human rights defense body), the National LGBTI+ Alliance and the Brazilian Association of Homotransfective Families.

The entities cite “reparation of collective moral damage and social damage inflicted on the black population, the LGBTQIA+ community and the Brazilian people in general” to justify the process.

Pedro Matos de Arruda, judge of the 20th Civil Court of Brasilia, was the one who sentenced Piquet to the payment of R$ 5 million – initially, the entities asked for R$ 10 million in the lawsuit.

The magistrate alleged the fact that Piquet made donations to the re-election campaign of former President Jair Bolsonaro, in 2022, in the amount of R$ 501 thousand. As Law nº 9.504/97, of the Electoral Justice, limits donations and contributions to electoral campaigns to 10% of gross income, the judge considered that Piquet would have raised more than R$ 5 million in 2021.