Three-time Formula 1 champion Nelson Piquet was fined $945,000 on Saturday for racist remarks made against British driver Lewis Hamilton, who he called "neguinho" ("little black") in an interview.

A court in Brasilia ruled that these "intolerable" remarks constituted a "serious offense to the fundamental values of society."

Piquet, 70, was fined for "collective moral damages" with the money being donated to groups fighting against discrimination.

World champion in 1981, 1983 and 1987, Piquet used the word "neguinho" in an interview in 2021 when he criticized Hamilton's role in a clash with Max Verstappen, his daughter Kelly's boyfriend, at the British Grand Prix the same year.

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

"These are more than words," said Hamilton.

Piquet later issued a "wholehearted" apology.

"What I said was wrong and I'm not going to defend myself but I want to clarify that this term has often been used in Brazilian Portuguese to describe 'guy' or 'person' and that it was never intended to offend," he insisted.

However, the court was not convinced, ruling that "the absence of intention could not justify discriminatory behavior toward minorities."