Nelson Piquet has been the subject of many statements favoring Max Verstappen over Lewis Hamilton. It is clear to everyone that he thinks very highly of Max Verstappen.
Nelson won 3 World Championships during the 80s. However, he is not very liked by fans due to his comments regarding Lewis Hamilton and other F1 stars and there are some fans who believe that Piquet should never have won a Championship in Formula 1.
What did Piquet say about Verstappen and Hamilton?
Nelson Piquet stated: “It is difficult to make direct comparisons between two drivers if they are not on the same team but I believe if Max were driving for Mercedes, I’m sure that he would smash Hamilton. I believe he would come out on top in a side-by-side challenge,”
Lewis Hamilton is a 7-time world champion. That is four more than Nelson Piquet has. Hamilton has more than proved himself in the sport of Formula 1.
Nelson Piquet’s daughter, Kelly Piquet has been dating Max Verstappen since 2020. Kelly has a daughter with another F1 driver, Daniil Kvyat. Does this make Nelson Piquet’s views on the Verstappen-Hamilton rivalry biased? Certainly seems so.
How good was Nelson Piquet?
Nelson Piquet won 3 Championships in 1981, 1983, and 1987. In all three seasons, he was able to win because the other drivers suffered reliability issues. He was never able to achieve the most victories in a season. He has a total of 23 victories over 14 years in the sport. Max Verstappen had 25 victories in the 2021 and 2022 seasons alone while Lewis Hamilton has a total of 103 wins which is the most by any driver in F1.
Piquet was very inconsistent with his performances. One season, he would win the Championships, but the next his performance would deteriorate. When asked about this, he stated: “I wasn’t driving like before, because I had the accident at the beginning of the year and had field depth problems.”
One of his teammates had this to say about the Brazilian driver: “Nelson’s the luckiest b*****d alive. He should have never been a world champion once, let alone 3 times. Nigel won 11 times in 1986 and 1987. Nelson won only 7. Not in a single year he won the most races. He’s a fake,”
Despite winning 3 world championships, some believe that Nelson won his first 2 Championships with an illegal car. He also never had the most victories in a season. Nelson Piquet was a decent driver in his era, but certainly not the best.
Does Nelson Piquet hate Lewis Hamilton?
Nelson Piquet has been very critical to a lot of drivers. This is one of the main reasons he is not liked by the public. In a podcast after the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix, Piquet used a racial slur to describe Lewis Hamilton. This angered a lot of fans and was forced to issue an apology. He stated that he did not intend the word to be racist.
Piquet has made comments on Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, and even Enzo Ferrari. Piquet has called Mansell and his wife ugly, called Senna gay, and insulted Enzo Ferrari concerning his old age. This did not help his public image at all. Even after Senna’s death, Nelson continued to call him gay.
Formula 1 has banned Nelson Piquet from making an appearance in the F1 paddock after his comments regarding Hamilton.