'Why are we giving older voices a platform': Lewis Hamilton on Nelson Piquet's racist slur

Ahead of the British Grand Prix this weekend, a huge focus was placed on Nelson Piquet's remark on Lewis Hamilton after the three-time F1 champion referred to the Brit by his skin colour. After taking to social media to respond to the Brazilian's comments, Hamilton also elaborated on Piquet's remarks by stating that older voices should no longer be given a platform.

Lewis Hamilton gives detailed response on Nelson Piquet's remarks

While speaking to the media on Thursday (as quoted by Sky Sports), Lewis Hamilton said, "I don't know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform. They're speaking upon our sport and we're looking to go somewhere completely different. If we're looking to grow in the US, other countries, South Africa, we need to look to the future and give the younger people a platform, who are more representative of today's time. 

The Brit went on to add, "It's not just about one individual, it's not about the one use of that term, it's the bigger picture. It just comes back down to F1, and the media, we should not be giving these people a platform. Discrimination is not something we should be projecting and promoting, giving a platform to divide people. We need to be bringing people together, we are all the same."

Hamilton believes that he has been suffering abuse from the older generation for a long time now by adding, "I don't think there's been a day gone by where people who are older - who haven't been relevant in our sport for decades - haven't been saying negative things and trying to bring me down. But I'm still here, I'm still standing strong, I'm focused on my work and really trying to push for diversity and inclusion in our organisation."

When asked if he had lost respect for these older voices, the seven-time champion replied, "I've always tried to take the high road, I've always tried to be respectful to these individuals. But as I was saying before, why do we give these guys a platform? They're not with the times, they're clearly not willing to change." He concluded by stating, "These times of discrimination and micro aggressions, in today's world it's just not helpful and it's creating more divide."

F1 condemns racism directed at Lewis Hamilton

Meanwhile, F1 and several members of the sport did condemn racism against Hamilton. F1 released a statement that 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. His tireless efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are a lesson to many and something we are committed to at F1.