Lewis Hamilton SLAMS Helmut Marko for Sergio Perez comments but says he is 'not surprised'

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Hamilton SLAMS Marko for Perez comments but says he is 'not surprised'

Seven-time world champion criticises blunder by Red Bull adviser

Lauren Sneath

Thursday 14 September 2023 17:57 Updated: 18:10

Lewis Hamilton has issued resounding criticism of the comments Helmut Marko made about Sergio Perez in which he confused his nationality and attributed his rocky performance on track to being ‘South American’.

Hamilton slammed the comments as ‘unacceptable’ but said he was ‘not surprised’.

Perez, a Mexican driver for Red Bull, has regularly been the subject of Marko’s sharp words if his performance faltered with the team.

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The Austrian team adviser has previously cast doubts on Perez’s future at Red Bull, and suggested that his strong performance at the Dutch Grand Prix was ‘lucky’.

But most recently, Marko made a serious blunder when he spoke of Perez’s performance at the Italian Grand Prix.

At the time, he told Austrian outlet Servus TV: “It was certainly one of the better weekends, and we know he has issues in qualifying.

“He experiences fluctuations in form; he's South American, and his mental focus isn't as consistent as it was with Max or Sebastian.”

Not only did Marko confuse Perez’s Mexican nationality with being South American, his comment implied that the driver’s heritage negatively impacted his performance.

Now, Hamilton, who has been the subject of insensitive comments from other F1 figures such as Nelson Piquet, has spoken out about the comments made by Marko.

Helmut Marko has been criticised for remarks he made about Sergio Perez

Ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, he told Sky Sports F1: “I mean, it's completely unacceptable what he said.

“Whilst we say there's no room for any type of discrimination within the sport, which there should be no room for it, to have leaders and people in his position making comments like this is not good for us moving forward.

“I think it just highlights, firstly, the work that still needs to be done. There are a lot of people in the background that really are trying to combat these sorts of things.

“But it's hard to manoeuvre when you have people that are at the top … that have those sort of mindsets that just stop us from progressing so yeah. I'm not surprised to be honest.”

Marko's apology

Marko has since apologised for his comments. He said in a statement to ServusTV Sport and Talkt: "I would like to apologise for my offensive remark and want to make it absolutely clear that I do not believe that we can generalise about the people from any country, any race, any ethnicity.

"I was trying to make a point that Checo has fluctuated in his performance this year, but it was wrong to attribute this to his cultural heritage."

Other figures at the team have distanced themselves from the comments. Sky Sports News' Craig Slater reported: "I have been in touch with some senior figures at Red Bull racing who want to make clear they in no way condone these sentiments and want to distance themselves from the remarks. The teams values reject xenophobia and racism in all its forms."