Max Verstappen defended Nelson Piquet and condemned the racist expression against Lewis Hamilton.

Nelson Piquet, who won the Formula 1 championship three times, was repudiated by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the Mercedes team, active drivers, and Lewis Hamilton. It all started with a term used by the Brazilian to refer to the Briton: he called him "neguinho" ("little black" in Portuguese) in an interview, which went viral this week on social media.

The context of the conversation between Piquet and the media in his country was related to last year's Silverstone circuit. According to his opinion, Hamilton cheated to make Max Verstappen leave the race. The Red Bull driver's car crashed into the wall and automatically exited the competition, after a slight collision with the Mercedes man.

So, in the midst of the controversy that stirred up the environment of this sport, it was only missing to hear from one of the protagonists: the current F1 champion. This Thursday, 'Mad Max' gave his opinion regarding the term used by his partner's father. While the Dutchman condemned any racist expression, he assured that the three-time champion is not a discriminatory person.

"I think the expression that was used, although of course with different cultures and things they said when they were young and younger, was not correct," Verstappen began: "Let it serve as a lesson for the future not to use that word because it is very offensive, especially nowadays, since it creates more traction," he added.

"I have spent some time with Nelson, I think more than the average person in general, and he is definitely not a racist. He is actually a very nice and relaxed guy, and I'm pretty sure that the statement he published can be seen in two ways. But I still think it's better not to use it," he said about Piquet.

"As he himself said, it can be interpreted in two ways, and of course people stick with the bad side and something disproportionate is generated because I know Nelson personally. People, of course, now label him as a racist, which I don't think he is, but I totally agree that those words cannot be used," said the 24-year-old driver.