Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Lewis Hamilton & Nadine Dorries
Every week we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.
HIT - LEWIS HAMILTON
The growth of Formula One is down in no small part to the popularity and legacy of the drivers, who are competing in an increasing number of locations across the globe.
The meteoric rise on the track from Sir Lewis Hamilton has certainly contributed to the growing interest in the sport.
From modest beginning as a go kart driver in Hertfordshire to being signed by McLaren in 2007, Hamilton has broken down barriers as the first – and only – black driver in Formula One history.
With seven titles, Hamilton is the joint all-time World Champion, and it’s to his credit that he has championed a variety of causes that his platform has afford him the opportunity to promote, such as racial equality, the Black Lives Matter Movement, justice for Breonna Taylor; and LGBTQ+ rights.
Just a few weeks ago, he was having to defend his activism against criticism from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who argued the sport had become ‘too political’.
As we often discuss, representation in sport has never been more crucial to inspire the next generation and Hamilton is a shining example of how athletes can use their platform.
So it was disappointing that former racing driver Nelson Piquet made racist comments about Hamilton on a Brazilian podcast last November, where he was discussing the collision between Hamilton and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen during the 2021 British GP.
The remarks have come to light on social media and Piquet was found to have used a racially offensive expression in Portuguese saying: "The [racist term] put his car there to hit him on purpose.”
Later, he was asked if he felt Hamilton would not make the corner at Copse, Piquet went on to say: "Him? Never! He wanted to take him out no matter the cost.
“The [racist term] left the car there to hit him. It's because you don't know that bend. It's a very fast one, and two cars can't get through. There's no way two cars can go side by side there. It was a dirty trick! He's just lucky that the only other guy got screwed."
When the remarks surfaced, they were justifiably met with wide condemnation and disgust.
Racism has, in particular, been a constant during Hamilton’s career, and something he is thankfully not afraid to speak out against. Hamilton put out a series of tweets in reply, the first of which was a message in Portuguese, that said: “Vamos focar em mudar a mentalidade” which translates to ‘Let's focus on changing the mindset.’
He later tweeted: “It’s more than language. These archaic mindsets need to change and have no place in our sport.
“I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action.”
Hamilton’s team, Mercedes, were swift to support their driver by sharing their own statement that said : “We condemn in the strongest possible terms any use of racist or discriminatory language of any kind.
“Lewis has spearheaded our sport’s efforts to combat racism, and he is a true champion of diversity on and off the track.
“Together, we share a vision for a diverse and inclusive motorsport, and this incident underlines the fundamental importance of continuing to strive for a brighter future.”
Fellow Mercedes teammate George Russell was also quick to condemn the remarks, and said: “Huge respect to LH. He has done more for the sport than any driver in history, not just on track but off it.
“The fact that he and so many others are STILL having to deal with this behaviour is unacceptable. We all need to stand together against discrimination of any kind.”
Other Formula One teams also showed their support for Hamilton, with Ferrari and Aston Martin tweeting that they stand with Hamilton.
The governing body, the FIA, also denounced Piquet’s racism and said: ““The FIA strongly condemns any racist or discriminatory language and behaviour, which have no place in sport or wider society.
“We express our solidarity with Lewis Hamilton and fully support his commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in motor sport.”
An F1 statement soon followed, which said: "Discriminatory or racist language is unacceptable in any form and has no part in society.
"Lewis is an incredible ambassador for our sport and deserves respect.
"His tireless efforts to increase diversity and inclusion are a lesson to many and something we are committed to at F1."
Brazilian novelist and lyricist Paulo Coelho showed support for Sir Lewis and tweeted: “Dear Lewis Hamilton, Piquet is currently the driver of the worst president in our history. His racist remarks shows the desperate need to return to the spotlight.
"I apologise in the name of the Brazilian people, who respect and love you."
In the wake of the backlash from the racist remarks made, Piquet issued a public apology to Hamilton, which said: “"I would like to clear up the stories circulating in the media about a comment I made in an interview last year.
"What I said was ill-thought-out, and I make no defence for it, but I will clarify that the term used 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.
"I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin colour.
"I apologise wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct.
"Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect."
Bernie Ecclestone, the former chief executive of the Formula One Group and a man considered the architect of modern F1, then poured oil on the fire by defending Piquet’s racism.
Ecclestone said: “I've known Nelson for an awful long time. I was with him a couple of weeks ago. It's not the sort of thing Nelson would say meaning something bad.
"He probably thinks lots of things he says which might upset us or might feel a little bit offensive.... to him it's nothing. It's just part of conversation.
"Nelson would never go out of his way to say anything bad, certainly. I think what probably happened, knowing Nelson as I know him, as his daughter is the girlfriend of Max Verstappen, probably after seeing the accident, he probably exploded and carried that forward.
"People say things... if people happen to be a little bit overweight, or undersized like me, I'm quite sure a lot of people have made remarks about that. If I'd have heard it, I'd have been able to deal with it myself without too much trouble.
"I'm surprised Lewis hasn't just brushed it aside. Or, better than that, replied. But he's now come out and Nelson has apologised so everyone should be happy."
Graciously, Hamilton responded to Ecclestone and he said: “"Discrimination is not something we should be giving a platform. We need people to be bringing people together.
"We are all the same and the comments we are seeing are not helpful. There needs to be some accountability. You know what you're going to get [with Ecclestone].
"But I'm still here. Lip service is not good enough, we need to push for action. I've always tried to take the high road and be respectful. Why do we give these guys a platform?
"They are clearly not willing to change and these undertones of discrimination and micro-aggressions in today's world are not helpful, it is creating more division. I love when Michelle Obama says: 'When they go low, I go high,' and that's what I try to do.
"We are living in the world and there is still discrimination all around the world, you see it all around you,. These micro-aggressions come out., enough is enough, no-one should have to brush off racism and it shouldn't be for me to have to brush it off. We need big organisations to take a stand."
When climate change protestors broke through the barriers during the British Grand Prix last Sunday, in which Hamilton finished third, the Mercedes driver was quick to support the protests while warning of the dangers of circuit incursions.
He said: “As we’ve seen today, this is a dangerous sport,” said Hamilton in a social media statement.
“I wasn’t aware of the protests today, and while I’ll always support those standing up for what they believe in, it must be done safely.
“Please don’t jump on to our race circuits to protest, we don’t want to put you in harm’s way.”
With the help of Mercedes, Hamilton has also set up The Ignite partnership, to promote diversity and inclusion in motorsport.
The first two grants awarded by the programme will be granted to Motorsport UK in support of the FIA Girls on Track programme and to the Royal Academy of Engineering, to increase representation of students from minority ethnic and economically disadvantaged backgrounds in the British motorsport industry.
The Ignite partnership grant is expected to help expand the programme’s reach to 8,000 girls and young women aged from eight years old to 24.
Hamilton has shown throughout his career that hate never wins.
It will be interesting to see what the FIA do to punish Piquet for his racist comments. Indeed, actions speak louder than words.
MISS – NADINE DORRIES
Competence and proper planning are vital when making a speech or talking to the media.
Failing to plan is planning to fail and can lead to a PR disaster if one isn’t careful, especially in an age of social media. One wrong step can go viral and create a media storm in an instant.
Step forward Nadine Dorries MP, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who has a habit of making gaffes when being interviewed, be that by a Select Committee (LINK to Channel 4 gaffe) or by the media, who she often treats with great disdain.
At a Rugby League World Cup event she attended in St. Helens to speak about the findings of a report which claims the 2021 Rugby League World Cup – delayed by the pandemic until later this year – has already made £25m worth of positive change in communities across the north of England through its social impact programme, it happened again.
The event was going smoothly for Dorries. When asked about the report, she said: “We know that some of the towns and cities that will host Rugby League World Cup 2021 matches are amongst those hardest hit by the pandemic and increases in the cost of living and the Government has backed the tournament with over £15m investment to bring world-class sport to these communities.
“The findings published in this report today are vindication of the decision taken to prioritise the Social Impact Programme from the very outset. It has been trailblazing in both its inception and delivery, laying the groundwork for future sporting events in this country and beyond to follow in its footsteps.”
The report reinforces the success of mental health and volunteering programmes that the World Cup has brought about for communities throughout the north of England.
However, when reminiscing about her favourite Rugby League memory, she mistakenly used Jonny Wilkinson’s iconic drop goal in the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup Final as her answer.
Dorries said: “I’ve always quite liked the idea of rugby league – my long-standing memory is that 2003 drop-goal.
“We were drinking Bloody Marys at the time, it was 11 o’clock in the morning. But wow, what a moment that was.”
She didn’t realise her mistake and kept going.
Dorries said: “I’m not going to say I’m an expert who watches it all the time, that it’s an increasingly physical and sometimes brutal sport and it often ends up in a scrum which actually reminds me very much of politics.
“I think we have a lot in common and given a lot of the media like to call me the Prime Minister’s attack dog, I wonder sometimes if I should give rugby a go.”
There are several major differences between the codes of rugby league and rugby union. Most obviously, rugby league is played with 13 players whereas rugby union is played with 15 players.
The point-scoring system is also different, as is the number of permitted substitutes. These are facts that a government minister in charge of sport in the UK should know when making a speech to a specific audience.
The gaffe completely overshadowed the event and it didn’t take long for the mistake to go viral on social media.
Dorries was quick to clarify her comments and she tweeted: “Like Jason Robinson I may have switched codes in my speech.
“Both league & union have a rich heritage in the UK. Obviously I've followed rugby league much less in my lifetime, but I'm looking forward to watching England (& all the home nations) in the RL World Cup this Autumn.”
The Rugby League World Cup chief executive Jon Dutton was sympathetic to Dorries when asked for his reaction to the comment from BBC Sport editor Dan Roan.
He said: “Clearly the Secretary of State made a mistake with her comment. But we’re delighted that she’s come here today to support the tournament, to support the publication of the social impact report and to see first hand the difference this tournament is making for communities.
“The sport is 127 years old but needs a tournament like this to have more visibility. We want more people to be educated on what a wonderful sport rugby league is - and also, what a wonderful sport rugby union is.
"We've had a conversation and we look forward to her coming to the tournament."
This isn’t the first time that Dorries has got herself confused with different sports and their terminologies.
Back in April, she went viral when she appeared in fellow Tory MP Dr Luke Evans’ TikTok explaining her role in the government.
In the video she said: “We’re responsible for everything to do with sport in the country. From making sure you’ve got football pitches and you have tennis pitches in your communities, where you can play and exercise your sports.”
As the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, it should be a prerequisite that you’d know they were called tennis courts, not pitches.
Again, she had to clarify her original mistake and said: “I have dyslexia, which means that when I speak I often run my words together and say things that sound like the words I’m trying to say.
“Sometimes it’s funny and I laugh it off… but mostly, it’s just difficult.
“I’m OK with that. I’ve been in politics a long time and you grow a thick skin. It’s why I haven’t spoken publicly much about how it affects me.
“But I’ve found it tough seeing commentators and media outlets mock me for something that is beyond my control.
“For other dyslexia sufferers, we learn that it’s what you achieve in life that counts, not what those who mock you say.”
In public positions, you have to be held accountable for what you know and what you say.
Dorries would certainly do well to remember that, and educate herself on the various sports she goes to speak about in advance.