Christian Horner explains Red Bull's reaction after Helmut Marko's controversial 'not right' comments

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko — Photo: © LAT Images

Singapore Grand Prix

Horner explains Red Bull's reaction after Marko's controversial 'not right' comments

Horner was asked to address Marko's comments directly at the Singapore Grand Prix

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Friday 15 September 2023 17:27

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has stated that Helmut Marko's recent comments about Sergio Perez 'weren't right', insisting that 'it's still not too late' for the 80-year-old Red Bull advisor to learn from his mistakes.

Marko issued an apology to Perez last Friday after he blamed the Formula 1 driver's inconsistent form on his ethnicity.

And Horner was asked directly about Marko's comments after the conclusion of FP1 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Friday.

Horner: Marko's comments were not right

Helmut Marko has apologised to Sergio Perez for his comments

Article continues under video

“Firstly, those comments – they weren’t right," he told Sky Sports. "I think Helmut quickly recognised that and apologised for that both publicly and directly to Sergio. He spoke directly to Sergio about it.

"You’re always learning in life, even at 80 years of age and I think inevitably, lessons have been learnt. Checo is a massively popular member of our team, he’s an important member of our team.

"I pushed very hard to sign him for the 2021 season. We have a huge following around the world, and we take that very seriously, very responsibly and I think that the fan following not that just Checo has, but the team has, and Formula 1 has, we’re very conscious of.

"This is his 250th race, we want to focus on that and obviously from Helmut’s perspective, he’s apologised, he’s not an employee of Red Bull Racing, so in terms of why didn’t we [Red Bull] put out a statement – he's part of the Red Bull wider group and group obviously issued that apology through ServusTV channel.

“Helmut is technically an employee directly of, or a consultant to the group. So, it’s not really a question for me to answer. We’ve obviously spoken about it, I know he regrets what he said.

"He’s apologised and as I say, even at 80 years of age, it’s still not too late to learn."

Marko's apology

Speaking to Red Bull-owned Austrian channel ServusTV Sport, this is what Marko had to say regarding the comments he made about Perez.

"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."