sport news Nelson Piquet is accused of committing a racial crime against Lewis Hamilton ... trends now
Three Brazilian MPs have accused Nelson Piquet of committing a racial crime, asking a court to probe him over his N-word slur against Lewis Hamilton ahead of today’s British Grand Prix
The politicians say they want the former F1 world champion charged over his controversial comments.
Aurea Carolina, Taliria Petrone and Vivi Reis, MPs for the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party, have lodged a formal complaint with prosecutors in the capital Brasilia.
Petrone, a former teacher who has spent her political career representing Rio de Janeiro, said: 'Racism, which structures our society, needs to be fought everywhere.'
The MPs added in their complaint: 'Treating black human beings in a clearly pejorative way, as Mr Nelson Piquet does, goes against practices for implementing equality.'
Specialist lawyer Renan Gandolfi told local press Piquet could now face a criminal probe for using racial slurs and a prison sentence of up to three years plus a fine if convicted.
Prosecutors in Brasilia have yet to comment and it was not immediately clear on Sunday if the complaint would be acted upon and a court investigation leading to possible charges launched.
Brazilian MPs have accused Nelson Piquet of committing a racial crime against Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton is pictured arriving at Silverstone on Sunday ahead of the British Grand Prix
Supporters attempt to get a selfie with Hamilton who has been the centre of attention ahead of his home race at Silverstone following the comments made by Piquet
Piquet was banned from Silverstone earlier this week after using a racially offensive expression in Portuguese to describe Hamilton during an interview in his homeland.
The retired three-time world champion apologised and insisted the word he used was mistranslated, before it emerged he had called him the N-word again.
Leading F1 figures including 2009 world champion Jenson Button and respected commentator Martin Brundle have voiced their disgust over the language Piquet used.
Apologising for using the derogatory Portuguese phrase 'neguinho' while referring to seven-time world champion Hamilton in a podcast interview last year, Piquet said: 'What I said was ill thought out, and I make no defence for it, but I will clarify that the term used is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for 'guy' or 'person' and was never intended to offend.
Piquet was accused of referring to Hamilton as a 'neguinho' during a podcast interview
'I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour.
'I apologise wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct. Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect.'
There has been much support for Hamilton on social media from his Mercedes team, F1, the FIA and even rivals Ferrari and Charles Leclerc.
Mercedes' rivals Red Bull have also hit out at Piquet's comments through team boss Christian Horner, whose comments came after Red Bull released F2 driver Juri Vips this week following controversial comments.
'First of all, of course, we were
