30/06/2022
NEWS STORY
The British Racing Drivers' Club, the owner of Silverstone, has announced that Nelson Piquet's honorary membership has been temporarily suspended.
The news comes in a brief statement issued by the BRDC in response to comments the three-time world champion made last November.
"The BRDC Board of Directors has noted that, in a Brazilian podcast last November, Nelson Piquet Senior, an Honorary Member of the BRDC, described Lewis Hamilton using a racially offensive expression in Portuguese," reads the statement.
"The apology issued yesterday by Mr Piquet Sr has also been noted.
"In view of the BRDC's zero-tolerance policy towards any act involving or suggesting racism, the BRDC Board has concluded that Mr Piquet Sr's use of racially offensive language to describe a fellow BRDC member (and 7-times World Champion) is unacceptable and represents conduct that is wholly inappropriate for an Honorary Member of the BRDC, notwithstanding his subsequent apology.
"Accordingly, we have advised Mr Piquet Sr that his membership has been suspended with immediate effect. Following the Club's due process, it is anticipated that the Board will terminate Mr Piquet Sr's membership at a board meeting to be held after the required 7-day notice period."
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