FILE - Three-time world champion Formula One racer Nelson Piquet...

FILE - Three-time world champion Formula One racer Nelson Piquet of Brazil attends the shooting of the Hungarian Television's Formula One magazine in Budapest, Hungary, on July 23, 2015. Retired Formula One champion Nelson Piquet has been ordered to pay $950,000 for making racist and homophobic comments about Lewis Hamilton. Credit: AP/Janos Marjai

RIO DE JANEIRO — Retired Formula One champion Nelson Piquet has been ordered to pay $950,000 in “moral damages” for making racist and homophobic comments about Lewis Hamilton.

The 70-year-old Brazilian had referred to seven-time champion Hamilton as “neguinho,” a racially offensive term which means “little Black guy,” in 2021. In another interview, Piquet used racist and homophobic language.

The court in Brasilia on Friday ordered Piquet to pay 5 million Brazilian reals “in collective moral damages, to be allocated to funds for the promotion of racial equality and against discrimination of the LGBTQIA+ community.”

The charges were filed by several human rights groups, including Brazil’s National LGBTI+ Alliance.

Hamilton had condemned “archaic mindsets,” and the Mercedes driver said he had been “surrounded by these attitudes and targeted (his) whole life.” He is the only Black driver in F1 and received honorary citizenship from Brazil last year.

Piquet, who won three F1 titles in the 1980s, was discussing a crash between Hamilton and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen that took place during the British Grand Prix in 2021. His daughter Kelly Piquet is Verstappen’s girlfriend.

Piquet later apologized in a statement for the “ill thought out” racial term but said it “is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend.”

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during...

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the Saudi Arabia Formula One Grand Prix at the Jeddah corniche circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, March 19, 2023. Credit: AP/Hassan Ammar

In his decision, judge Pedro Matos de Arruda said “subtlety is one of the characteristics of contemporary Brazilian racism” and that the word is “not an affectionate nickname.”

Piquet had used racist and homophobic language in the other interview when discussing Hamilton missing out on a previous championship.

Piquet’s comments implied if Hamilton hadn’t been gay, “he would have won the championship. ... Therefore, being gay would be a negative characteristic," the judge said in his decision.

The retired driver has the right to appeal the ruling.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain speaks to media ahead...

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain speaks to media ahead of the Formula On Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, March 16, 2023. Credit: AP/Hassan Ammar

Piquet had angered some F1 fans for his support of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. He donated about $95,000 to Bolsonaro's failed re-election bid.

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