F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Scolds Red Bull For Racist Comments - "Not Surprised"
Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he is "not surprised" by Helmut Marko's comments about Sergio Perez last week as he hits out at the Red Bull motorsport advisor.
Marko was called out by fans for "racist and xenophobic" comments he made to Servus TV about Perez when he said:
“Let’s remember that he is South American, and so he is not as focused as Max Verstappen or Sebastian Vettel was."
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Whilst speaking to Sky Sports F1 ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked what he thought of the comments, to which he responded:
"It's completely unacceptable what he said.
"Whilst we say there is no room for any type of discrimination within this 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 forwards.
"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 if there are people in the top that have those sort of mindsets, that just stop us from progressing. Not surprised, to be honest."
Marko did later formally apologise for the remarks, however, many were shocked that there was no official statement from Red Bull to separate themselves from the comments. Hamilton, who is passionate about fighting for increased inclusivity and diversity in the sport, continued:
"I don't know what was said beyond, that's something to ask Checo [Sergio Perez], but I think this is not something that you just apologise [for] and it's all ok. I think there needs to be more done.
"Teams, when they've had individuals, particularly drivers, make comments but [also] some individuals in the background - they usually are removed or at least they put out a quote and say they don't support that sort of thing. So it is interesting that they haven't done so for this one, but it's not my team and it's not how we move as a team.
"It just shows how important it is that we continue to do the work. The work that I'm trying to do with my team and with the sport. We still have a lot of work to do moving forward to make sure that this is a more inclusive environment."
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