Posted in: 29/06/2022 – 16:38Last updated: 29/06/2022 – 16:36
Paris (AFP) – Former Brazilian Formula One world champion Nelson Beckett apologized Wednesday “from the bottom of his heart” to seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton, following calling him a “little lion” in a video, stressing his desire to “clarify” his idea.
“I apologize from the bottom of my heart to everyone who was affected, including Lewis, who is a great driver,” the three-time world champion said in a statement, adding, “But the translation in some media outlets that is transmitted on social media is not correct.”
The 69-year-old Brazilian, who won the world title in 1981, 1983 and 1987, used the word “Niginho”, meaning “little nigger” in Portuguese, in reference to Hamilton during a podcast interview in Brazil he gave in November 2021 and was rebroadcast on Tuesday.
Beckett was discussing an accident between Hamilton and Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen on the first lap of last year’s British Grand Prix when he used the term, knowing that the Brazilian’s daughter, Kelly, is the girlfriend of last season’s world champion.
“Little Lions put his car down and left it because he had no way of overtaking (with) two cars at that bend,” he said, with Verstappen crashing into a wall at high speed and pulling out.
On Wednesday, however, Beckett wanted to “clarify the stories that are being reported in the media.”
The Brazilian driver saw that “what I said I didn’t think well and I’m not going to defend myself, but I want to make it clear that the term used is a term that has been widely and historically used in the Brazilian Portuguese language as a synonym for the word ‘boy’ or ‘person'”, stressing that he did not He did not mean to offend anyone.
“I will never use the word I was accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that I used this word in an attempt to disparage a driver because of the color of his skin.”
On Tuesday, Hamilton responded to what Beckett said by saying: “They are more than just words. These old mindsets have to change and have no place in our sport.”
The world of Formula One, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the organizers of the world championship, teams and drivers denounced what Beckett said.
Hamilton is preparing for the British Grand Prix this weekend at Silverstone, hoping to benefit from the public support for his first victory of the season.
Beckett, who runs Verstappen’s campaign in the first category, is considered one of the most prominent supporters of the far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
first / d h / m
© 2022 AFP
