Austrian former motorsports racing driver and the current Red Bull motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, is in the news for his xenophobic stereotyping comments regarding Sergio Michel “Checo” Pérez Mendoza.
The comment was about his racing skills and about his ethnicity, as Checo belonged to Mexico, which caused a lot of trouble.
The Red Bull motorsport advisor blamed the Mexican’s poor form this season on Perez’s ethnicity. “He is South American, and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] is or as Sebastian [Vettel],” said Helmut Marko about Sergio Perez.
Why Did Helmut Marko Give A Xenophobic Comment About Checo?
Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s advisor, is also known as a ‘PR disaster’ because of his comments on drivers without any filter. He talked about Sergio Perez, a South American, on ServusTV, as he mentioned that the racer has a fluctuating form in Formula 1 and is not as focused as compared to other drivers because of his native place. While talking about the mental strength of his driver, his comments were out of place.
The derogatory remarks from a senior figure in Red Bull’s Formula 1 received massive backlash from the world. “But racing is his forte, and he had a very good race. Overtaking three drivers, in George Russell and the Ferraris, was not easy,” added the motorsport advisor.
Did Helmut Marko Apologize For His Statements?
Red Bull’s advisor was criticized when his comments about Checo’s ethnicity went all over the internet. The comments were met with a huge backlash from fans who blasted the advisor for being “racist and xenophobic” as well as calling him out for his incorrect statement that Perez is Mexican and not South American. After days of criticism, Helmut Marko had no choice but to come out and explain his statements.
“Concerning my remark about Sergio Perez, ServusTV Sport and Talk, Monday, September 4: I would like to apologize for my offensive remark and want to make it absolutely clear that I do not believe that we can generalize about the people from any country, any race, any ethnicity. I was trying to make a point that Checo [Perez] has fluctuated in his performance this year, but it was wrong to attribute this to his cultural heritage.”
Apology statement by Helmut Marko.
The Red Bull advisor explained his comments about the driver were based on his inconsistent performance this season and admitted that it was wrong for him to generalize an entire ethnicity for the same.
How Did Sergio Perez React To The Comments By Helmut Marko?
Following the comments on his ethnicity, current form, and race pace, Checo, aka Sergio Perez, kept his calm and accepted Helmut Marko’s apology. Ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, the driver broke the silence by speaking to the media and said that he knew Marko didn’t mean them as a personal attack.
Sergio also said that he did not want to hamper his personal relationship with him and ‘moved on’ after he apologized.
“I had a private conversation with him. He did apologize and that to me was the main thing. Yeah, basically we move on. I have a personal relationship with him, and I think you always have that, you can always have those feelings when you see that sort of stuff. Knowing the person helps a lot because I know he doesn’t mean it that way,” said the Mexican racing driver.
Checo did acknowledge that the comments can be viewed as derogatory and offensive as he added, “Obviously those comments, when you read them in isolation, can be very disrespectful.”
He added that he had a personal relationship with Marko, and it helped him to understand him. “So, like everything, when you have a personal relationship, it’s a lot more important, the personal feeling than the public feeling,” added Sergio Perez.
However, the comments by Helmut Marko seemed very disgraceful to the world, but Sergio Perez forgave him.
Don’t you think even if the comments about his ethnicity were removed, the dig at his performance would affect the racer’s performance? Let us know in the comments.
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