At Red Bull there is bad blood between Helmut Marko and Sergio Perez. It's no secret that the team is moving to replace Perez with a driver who creates less controversy and problems. Perez himself has already said that he will have to look for alternatives in the event that he does not sign a new contract for 2025.
The super consultant has often launched into overly colorful considerations and opinions on Perez, going beyond the simple personal judgment on the driver's talent. Also to Monza, a positive weekend for both the team and Sergio, who finished second with a comeback from fifth position, Helmut Marko did not hold back, giving his worst. His latest statements have gone around the world and embarrassed the world of F1.
The slip on South Americans
A slip by Marko, who always expresses himself in a provocative and decidedly undiplomatic way in his statements, should no longer be newsworthy. As if he had no filters. This time, however, the origin of Perez's problems did not concern his driving skills but his passport.
In particular Marko, interviewed by Servus TV, wanted to compare his two drivers and their different mentalities. A point of view that is objectively very often taken into consideration, were it not for the fact that Perez's mentality in this case has been branded as a "South American mentality", and therefore different from that of a Max Verstappen or a Sebastian Vettel because it is more subject to to errors. According to Marko, South Americans are evidently not always concentrated.
“Let's remember that he is South American and therefore is not as focused as Max Verstappen or Sebastian Vettel were but racing is his forte and he had an excellent race. Overtaking three drivers, George Russell and the Ferrari drivers, was not easy, because we knew they were faster on the straight. Perez did everything well in the race and now we have circuits like Singapore, where he has already won and which suit him better."
Among other things, in addition to being ethically and morally despicable, it is not even true information since Perez is Mexican and therefore North American.
Marko's apology
Many took to social media to express their disappointment at the comments made by Marko, to which he has now responded, seeming quite surprised at the general outrage. Marko then attempted to explain his point of view, which did not improve the situation. “It was not my intention to use discriminatory language – said Marko – I meant that a Mexican has a different mentality from a German or a Dutch. I would like to apologize for my comment if it seemed offensive. I want to make it absolutely clear that I do not believe we can generalize about people of any country, any race, any ethnicity. I was trying to point out that Checo had some fluctuations in his performances this year, but it was wrong to attribute it to his cultural heritage."
Marko's statements were condemned by the media, including the official page of Mexican Grand Prix, who expressed his disappointment on the issue on Twitter, inviting everyone to make a greater commitment to building a more respectful, united and healthy community in Formula 1.
It is not clear whether Red Bull will take action, at the moment only Marko's apologies have arrived and the matter seems to end like this. However, on social media fans are clamoring for a measure to prevent similar incidents from happening again. Since it now happens cyclically.
