Page 61 - April 2023

returning in 2021 to drive for Alpine. He left that team after Former F1 Champion Fined by
the 2022 season, finishing in 9th place overall; he said his Brazilian Court for Use of Racial
reason was that he didn't feel supported by the team, adding
Slur
he believed that the team had not used him fully because of
his age. Now a year older, Fernando's back and clearly on his
Nelson Piquet, 70, a three times F!
game. At a recent press conference he scotched all talk of
Champion is in the news again, this time not
any plans that he would retire and added that being with a
for success behind the wheel of a race car.
new team is cause for new motivation. "... you meet new
Instead, the Brazilian driver has been fined
people, ( with a ) new philosophy of racing, how they approach
$935,000 or five million Brazilian Reals, by a
the weekends and the car design and so on.
court in Brazil, for racist and homophobic
"But at the same time, it gives you an extra challenge for sure remarks he directed at seven time F 1
when you have to learn everything from from zero and make Champion Lewis Hamilton who also happens
the new seat all these things that normally if you stay with the to be the sport's only black driver.
same team, winters are a little bit more relaxed," said Alonso in
The remarks were made by Piquet in 2021.
response to a question.
He used a racially offensive term referring to
The current standings show the drivers for British based Hamilton during an interview he was giving.
teams rounding out six of the top seven positions-- Red Bull , The comments were made after an accident
first and second, Aston Martin, 3rd, Mercedes Petronas, fifth between Hamilton and Max Verstappen of
and sixth, and Aston Martin in seventh. Red Bull at the 2021 British Grand Prix. It is

Above: It's been a long time coming but in his first and second appearances with the Aston Martin Cognizant racing team The highly competitive Constructors Championship standings notable that Verstappen's partner is Piquet's
F1 veteran Fernando Alonso has taken a place on the podium in the first two Grand Prix races of the 2023 season. 2023 are led by Red Bull/Honda RBPT, followed ( gasp) by Aston daughter.
marks Aston Martin's 110th anniversary producing cars. How sweet it is! image courtesy of HMW Walton-on Thames Aston Martin Martin/Mercedes in second place, and Petronas Mercedes in
Although Piquet later tried to smooth over
Dealership newsletter third. British based teams Williams/Mercedes and
the incident by expressing "regret for his
McLaren/Mercedes bring up the rear in 8th and 10th place, at
ill-thought out remarks", captured on video,
the bottom of the pack.
Formula 1, the Mercedes Team, and the FIA,
Like Williams, still a UK based team but now owned owned by the world's motorsport governing body
Americans, McLaren is another team that has continued to weren't having any of it, mounting a call for a
struggle , causing Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren Racing, to change in "archaic mindsets" after the video
announce that there will be significant changes within the surfaced.
organization. Citing the difficulty the team has had in keeping
pace with F1's new regulations, Brown brought David In Brazil, however, the reaction was more
Sanchez to the team as part of a program that he believes than a call for change. Four human rights
will build a solid foundation for McClaren going forward. groups, including the country's LGBT+
Sanchez left Ferrari earlier this year. Alliance, brought charges against Piquet,
seeking 10 million Reals to compensate for
Said Brown, " ?It has been clear to me for some time that our
"moral damages".
technical development has not moved at a quick enough pace
to match our ambition of returning to the front of the grid. I?m While Piquet tried to assert that the term was
pleased that, having completed a full review ..., we are now not offensive but had been used for many
able to implement the restructure required to set the wheels in years in Brazil to mean "guy", Judge Pedro
motion to turn this around. Matos de Arrudo did not agree and said he
made the award " "so that, as a society, we
?These strategic changes ensure the long-term success of the
can someday be free from the pernicious
team and are necessary to see McLaren get back to winning
acts that are racism and homophobia".
ways. We have everything coming into place now with our
people and infrastructure and alongside an exciting driver
In Brazil, apparently, words do have
line-up, I?m determined to see McLaren get back to where we
consequences and the court placed a
should be.?
61 monetary value on abhorent speech instead
of sportsmanlike behavior.