Formula 1

Publisher of Helmut Marko quotes that angered Hamilton admits story was false

Quotes had been sourced from a parody twitter account, and not the source advertised

Sam Hall

Wednesday 17 June 2020 22:28

Quotes alleging Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko felt Mercedes Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was 'distracted' by the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign have been confirmed as fake by the original publisher.

The quotes, which angered many people, not least Hamilton himself, were circulated on Wednesday morning.

In response to the apparent accusations from Marko against him, Hamilton published a response on social media, saying, "Helmut, it deeply saddens me that you consider fighting for equal treatment of black people and people of colour, a distraction. I'm actually quite offended."

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However, both the story containing the original quotes, the website in question attributing them to an interview that took place with German broadcaster RTL, and a story containing Hamilton's response, have been removed from the site.

In their place, and dominating the home page, is a piece entitled, 'Dr Helmut Marko - An Apology'.

It reads: Earlier today we published an article containing quotes attributed to Dr Helmut Marko. The quotes attributed to him were incorrect. The source of the information was not ‘RTL’ and instead a parody Twitter account.

It was wrong for us to publish the news story without first establishing the veracity of the information. We sincerely apologise to Dr Helmut Marko and to Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.

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