Piquet apologizes to Hamilton over ‘ill thought out’ comment

By MAURICIO SAVARESE
AP Sports Writer

SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Formula One champion Nelson Piquet has apologized to Lewis Hamilton, saying the racial term he used about the Mercedes driver was “ill thought out” but was not meant to be offensive. The 69-year-old Brazilian has faced heavy criticism this week over comments he made in Portuguese last November on a podcast where he referred to Hamilton as “neguinho,” which means “little Black guy.” Piquet said: “I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin color.”