Helmut Marko issues APOLOGY following his ‘South American’ jibe at Sergio Perez
Helmut Marko has finally responded to allegations for his racist comments directed at Sergio Perez.
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Only a few days ago, there was a massive news doing rounds in the Formula One community–and unfortunately, it dealt with the systemic racism that drivers of color face in the field of motorsports. Sergio Perez, the superiority talented racer recruited under Red Bull, has failed to live up to the expectations of everyone as he has been grossly outscored by teammate Max Verstappen at almost every outing this year. Explaining his poor performance, Red Bull Chief Advisor Helmut Marko had some unsavory things to say about the Mexican.
While one would expect the Austrian F1 veteran to pose constructive criticism for Sergio Perez‘s declining results in F1, Marko surprised the fans in the worst way possible. Formula One has, time and again, seen several racist veterans take jibes at drivers of color such as Lewis Hamilton. Only last year, Nelson Piquet’s infamous quotes on Hamilton being a ‘neguinho’ made the headlines, and now it is Helmut Marko who got flack for his racist comments on Checo Perez.
Marko pointed towards Checo’s ethnicity being the reason behind him being inferior to Verstappen and Vettel, who are both Europeans. His quotes, as translated by Google, read, since Sergio Perez is a South American, his head is not as focused as the two most recent Red Bull F1 World Champions. This comment was met with widespread protests from the entire motorsports community, leading to Marko issuing an apology–“I would like to apologise for my offensive remark and make it absolutely clear that I do not believe that we can generalise people from any country, race, or ethnicity.“
Related: Sergio Perez reveals the root cause of his drop in performance amidst sabotage conspiracies
Sergio Perez has commented on how it is hard for a Mexican to thrive in Formula One
As a six-time Grand Prix winner with 34 career podiums, there is no doubt that Sergio Perez is one of the most talented and experienced racers in the current grid. Even then, he is often subjected to racism that, he claims, has made it difficult for him to steer through his racing career. He said, “Being a Mexican in this sport, without a doubt, it’s hard. There’s been two races since I was on the podium and everyone is talking about the big mistake my team has done by hiring me.”
Formula One has always been viewed as a classic European sport reserved from the White aristocrats. Till date, there has been only one Black driver in the league, and that is a statistical data that must be improved over the next few years. Lewis Hamilton himself has taken up the initiative to fund the careers of young Black racing aspirants through his philanthropic foundations. It remains to be seen how much of a difference is made in the next few years in this sport.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)