F1 News: Red Bull Advisor Chastised For "Racist" Comments About Sergio Perez

Helmut Marko has come under fire after crossing the line with comments about Sergio Perez.

In a fresh controversy boiling within the Red Bull F1 team, the team's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has been blasted on the internet for his racial slur against team driver Sergio Perez during an interview with Servus TV.

The Mexican driver is one of the most talented racers in Formula 1 and has achieved several podiums throughout his career. Just recently, he finished second at the Italian GP, six seconds behind race leader Max Verstappen. 

But, his teammate's superiority on the track has always led to the subject of comparison with Perez, mostly by Marko who weirdly never leaves behind a chance to make comments that seem to put him down. In fact, he also differs from team principal Chrisitan Horner who wants to keep Perez until the end of his contract in 2024 but, Marko feels the need to not wait that long. 

In a recent interview, Marko spoke about how Perez has been inconsistent this season, hinting that McLaren driver Lando Norris would be one of the best candidates to fill his seat. However, through the interview, Marko slipped the line in when he offered a weird theory behind Perez's recent struggles, which was an eyebrow-raising racial slur. He said:

“He is South American and [that’s why his] head is not as focused as Max’s or Sebastian’s."

Eventually, he also praised Perez for having a strong personality and mentality to compete alongside teammate Max Verstappen. But fans have brushed all that aside and are furious at the senior Red Bull team member for his racial remarks on social media platform X, with many even demanding that he must leave while others got involved in correcting his geographical error. 

Even RBR Daily took note of it.

🚨 STATEMENT: As the admin of RBR Daily, we strongly condemn Helmut Marko's recent racist and xenophobic statements about Checo

Such comments will not be tolerated. A racial stereotype was used to criticise his performance which is absolutely disgraceful and inexcusable.

We…

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) September 6, 2023

Here's a fan proving that geographical boundaries have got nothing to do with talent. 

helmut marko said checo is south american, he's not. he said checo isn't as focused cause he's south american, this doesn't even make sense.

ayrton senna and juan manuel fangio are just some of the legends that came from here. do not disrespect our people like that.

— clara (@leclercsletters) September 6, 2023

Error corrected. 

@redbull We demand a public apology from Helmut Marko to Checo Pérez, tell the illiterate man that Mexico is not in South America, that it is in North America and that it has nothing to do with his performance where he is from. We hope this time they do something about it. https://t.co/RxuEvcMmMI

— Danae Jaimes (@DanaeJ73) September 7, 2023

This fan's not taking one bit of it. 

i won't shut up abt this, but helmut marko NEEDS to go.

his racism and xenophobia IS NOT and will never be tolerated. as a latin american, it crushes me to see this kind of comments towards checo, who's a very talented driver, and has grown in F1 with honest and hard work (1/4)

— pɩɭaɾ (@pilarf1_) September 7, 2023

Someone's asking Red Bull to levy a fair punishment to all wrongdoers. 

@redbull We demand a posture after the latest xenophobic and supremacists comments from Helmut Marko. This is beyond ridiculous and it's not the first time. Be coherent and fire him as you fired Juri Vips after he said the "n" word. #RedBullRacist #RedBullXenophobic. pic.twitter.com/0Tpl3kwbmy

— HΛMMΞR (@Soy_Hammer) September 6, 2023

All that people need is an answer. 

Will you be addressing Helmut Marko's disgusting language? As a Redbull fan and a person of colour, I'm really disappointed that you, as a team, appear to tolerate racism. To quote Seb last year, "Kindness matters. People matter". I hope you will do the right thing.

— Marietta13 (@marietta_1307) September 6, 2023

Despite the upheaval on social media, Red Bull hasn't given out a statement on Marko's remarks yet.