The big topic of conversation of the week has been some statements that were made a few months ago but that had not come to light until now, in which Nelson Piquet referred to Hamilton with a racist word.
Formula 1 quickly reacted by condemning what Piquet said, and the entire F1 paddock rallied behind Lewis Hamilton.
Many expected reaction from Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen, Hamilton’s great rivals last year, but there was no statement or social media post. The Dutchman was asked about it on Thursday, and this Friday it was the team’s turn.
Red Bull director Christian Horner has insisted that they condemn any kind of racism, but pointed to another big event as the reason they did not issue a statement. And it is that after another racist comment while playing a video game and broadcasting it, Red Bull fired Juri Vips as reserve and test driver, and the confirmation came the same day that the great controversy with Piquet exploded.
Asked why Red Bull didn’t feel the need to comment on Piquet (who is also Verstappen’s father-in-law ), Horner said: “Firstly, of course we are appalled by Nelson’s comments. This is an interview from A long time ago, but obviously we had a case with one of our young drivers at the end of last week, and we took very decisive action when he made a racist comment, so we took action and immediately removed him from the team.”
“We put out a statement about Juri, and then this came out. We thought we had made a very strong statement of intent through the action of removing Juri from the team, showing that we condone any form of racism or discrimination.”
At the press conference the Austrian was insisted, suggesting that it would have cost nothing to bring up a second song, and Horner defended himself by assuring that actions speak louder than words.
“Well, we already made a statement about Juri, about zero tolerance for racism. Then to make another comment about Nelson Piquet… of course we fully support Lewis, we are fully united with the Hamilton Commission, but we feel that the actions speak more than the words, and the action that we took with Juri, which of course was very severe, but in line with the policy that we have”.
All this has arisen precisely in the week of the British GP, after the historic Hamilton-Verstappen accident in 2021 and as the first visit to the country of Mercedes after the controversial outcome of the world past.
Horner does not see bad that this weekend Hamilton is the local, and insisted on defending the values of Red Bull.
“Once again, Max made it absolutely clear that he is totally in favor of supporting Lewis, and not just Lewis, but taking a stand against any form of racism or discrimination in sport.”
“At Red Bull we are a young team, we are a very inclusive team, we have a very young, very diverse crowd, and that is very important to us. And I think of course Lewis is going to have great support here, but the next This weekend is our home race in Austria and I’m sure the team will have great support with another 30,000 Dutch fans. That’s sport, isn’t it? That’s racing.”
What did surprise Horner , perhaps ironically, are the boos Verstappen received from the Silverstone stands: “It’s never nice to hear boos for any driver, and it’s not often that the British Grand Prix crowd do it because you appreciate everyone.”
“But you know what? It’s something that Max accepts. Lewis is the favorite driver here, I don’t have a problem with that. Next weekend I know we’re going to have huge support for us, and he has huge support wherever he goes. Let’s go all over the world.”
