Lewis Hamilton reacts to racist comments by Nelson Piquet

Ahead of this weekend’s race at Silverstone, a conversation Richard Piquet had on a Brazilian podcast where he was discussing Hamilton’s crash at last year's race leaked.

In his discussion, Piquet, a former champion, had used a racial slur when referring to the seven-time world champion. Since the podcast made the news, many in the Formula One community have come out to condemn the silly and despicable act.

The FIA took to their Twitter handle to condemn the act, even releasing a statement to show their solidarity with Sir Hamilton. The statement read: “Discriminatory or racist language is unacceptable in any form and has no place 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 are something we are committed to in F1.”

Being the only black driver in the sport's history, Sir Hamilton is often under the microscope. Reacting to the leaked audio, he also took to Twitter to air his views on the subject. In his statement, Sir Lewis called for more punitive measures rather than the usual conversations that lead nowhere.

As the only black driver in the history of Formula One, Sir Hamilton is always under some form of scrutiny or the other AFP

His tweet read: “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.”

Sir Hamilton will be looking to make it four straight wins at Silverstone with a victory in Sunday's British Grand Prix.