Helmut Marko honored with ‘Gerhard Hirschmann Award for Critical Thinking’ just a month after controversial comments on Sergio Perez

Marko was previously found comparing the Mexican's mentality with that of Verstappen's and Vettel's

Helmut Marko honored with ‘Gerhard Hirschmann Award for Critical Thinking’ just a month after controversial comments on Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez and Helmut Marko (via IMAGO)

Helmut Marko, the 80-year-old Red Bull Racing advisor, has been awarded the prestigious Gerhard Hirschmann Prize for Critical Thinking. The award acknowledges Marko’s contributions to the sport and displays the importance of critical thinking in motorsports. Marko has received this award from his hometown of Graz, a province of Styria in Austria.

Christopher Drexler, the governor of his hometown, was full of praise for the 80-year-old, saying, “He has contributed to the fact that Formula 1 is now firmly rooted in Styria and has thus created invaluable advertising value for the region and our homeland.” He continues to thank Marko, “Our country also owes him a lot for his economic and cultural impulses for the city of Graz and especially for its old town,” while presenting him with the recognition.

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“Whether motorsports, business, or art, Marko’s fields of action and creative will are as diverse as Styria itself,” added Drexler. The Red Bull advisor is still very much rooted in his hometown. He has provided big development to Graz, both financially and socially, on many occasions. 

It comes just a month after the Austrian became involved in controversy over a racially sensitive comment about his driver. The comment was about Red Bull’s driver Sergio Perez. The Austrian compared the Mexican’s mentality with Max Verstappen‘s and Sebastian Vettel‘s by reasoning it because he was Mexican. He then apologized to his driver for the comments after heavy backlash.

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Sergio Perez’s reaction to Helmut Marko’s apology after derogatory remarks about him

After facing backlash over his comments about Sergio Perez’s ethnicity, Helmut Marko publicly apologized. Marko said that he wanted to prove his point about Perez’s performance and that it was wrong of him to include his ethnicity in that remark. However, Perez said that he didn’t feel offended by Marko’s statement as he cited a personal relationship with him.

Helmut Marko and Sergio Perez (via Twitter)

According to Perez, as reported by ESPN, “I took his apology, because I know Helmut from the personal relationship that we have, that he doesn’t mean it that way. […] And I didn’t get offended at all, personally.” Perez further stated if these comments came from someone else, he’d have taken them personally, as they might’ve meant it in the way Marko didn’t.

Overall, Perez didn’t pay much attention to the remarks and apology. He is still getting outshined by his teammate on track. He would rather focus on important things and try to cover up his point gap with him.

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