Lewis Hamilton Posts The Perfect Response To Nelson Piquet After Being Racially Abused By The Former F1 Champion

Lewis Hamilton has issued a defiant response to Nelson Piquet after the former Formula 1 world champion used a racist term to refer to the Mercedes driver.

The 69-year-old Brazilian, who won the world title in 1981, 1983 and 1987, used the racially offensive term 'neguinho' when referring to Hamilton on a podcast in November.

Piquet was discussing Hamilton's win at last year's British Grand Prix, when the seven-time world champion collided with Red Bull's Max Verstappen on the opening lap.

The collision caused Verstappen to spin out and crash into a barrier, with Hamilton eventually going on to win.

Piquet, the father of Verstappen's girlfriend Kelly Piquet, twice used the racist slur to refer to Hamilton in a video which was released on Monday.

"The neguinho put the car in the wrong way and didn’t let [the other driver swerve]," Piquet told Brazilian outlet Estadao.

"The neguinho put the car in the wrong way on the corner, it's because you don't know the curve.

"It's a very high curve, there is no way to pass two cars and there's no way you can put the car aside. He did [Verstappen] dirty. His luck was that only the other one was gone."

Hamilton responded to the video by reposted a tweet, which read: "What if Lewis Hamilton just tweeted 'Who the f**k is Nelson Piquet?' then closed Twitter", along with the caption: "Imagine."

He then posted the Portuguese sentence: "Vamos focar em mudar a mentalidade", which translates as "Let's focus on changing the mindset".

Hamilton later added: "It's more than language. These archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport. I've been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action."

Formula 1 also issued a public statement on Tuesday in response to the release of the video, which read: "Discriminatory or racist language is unacceptable in any form and has no part in society. Lewis is an incredible ambassador for our sport and deserves respect.

"(Hamilton's) tireless efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are a lesson to many and something we are committed to at F1."

Mercedes also released a statement condemning Piquet's language and labelled Hamilton a "true champion of diversity on and off track."

"We condemn in the strongest terms any use of racist or discriminatory language of any kind. Lewis has spearheaded our sport's efforts to combat racism, and he is a true champion of diversity on and off track," read the statement.

"Together, we share a vision for a diverse and inclusive motorsport, and this incident underlines the fundamental importance of continuing to strive for a brighter future."

The release of the video comes ahead of this season's British Grand Prix, which takes place at Silverstone this weekend.

Verstappen currently leads the Championship by 46 points ahead of closest rival Sergio Perez, with Hamilton currently sixth in the standings.

SPORTbible has contacted Piquet for comment.