Lewis Hamilton has spoken out against Nelson Piquet’s racist abuse against him! The Mercedes driver has been in the news after year-old audio of Piquet using racist slurs against him surfaced. Though the three-time world champion has apologized, claiming the intention wasn’t to hurt, many fans believe otherwise.

The F1 community gathered in Hamilton’s support with drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc, and Esteban Ocon raising their voices. Further, even several teams like McLaren and Ferrari have sent out messages of support to the driver.

What did Hamilton have to say after Piquet’s latest apology? The driver revealed, “Firstly, I’m incredibly grateful to all those that have been supportive within the sport, particularly the drivers. “It’s been two years since many of us took the knee at the first race in Austria… And of course, we’re still faced with the challenges. “

“I’ve been on the receiving end of racism and criticism and negativity in archaic narratives for a long, long time. So there’s nothing really particularly new for me. I think it’s more about the bigger picture. I don’t know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform. Because they are speaking on our sport and we’re looking to go somewhere completely different.”

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“It’s not representative of who we are as a sport now and where we’re planning to go.” He further added. Hamilton has though been a target of criticism since the beginning, is lauded for handling it maturely. The driver always looks forward to educating people, besides taking the path of vengeful comebacks.

Norris, Vettel, and Zhou express discontent over Lewis Hamilton-Piquet situation

Hamilton’s colleagues Lando Norris and Sebastian Vettel also shared their peace of mind in the latest interviews. Vettel revealed, “So any community is welcome and we should you know respond in that way very quickly and make it clear. Yeah, we’re open to anyone because you know kindness matters, people matter and it was like I said bad to see what was going on.”

Vettel has been one of the most outspoken drivers on the grid alongside Hamilton. Be it taking the knee or protesting against social wrongs, the German always uses his platform to promote good deeds.

Backing Seb’s comments, Norris added, “Everyone knows how strong of a person he is and how he can get through this… but there is no room for these kind of comments… for people bringing these comments to Formula 1… everyone feels and supports Lewis as a person and as a driver.”

Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu also shared his experience with racism and revealed, “The way the world is going with more people using social media, you get more trouble. I got a perfect example once I signed the contract last year… there was quite a lot of negativity, racist comments which never should happen.”

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Zhou’s criticism of his treatment is understandable, given he’s one of the only two Asian drivers on the grid. But what are your thoughts? As a community, what steps can one take to reduce such problems?