Lewis Hamilton has called out Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko after he made discriminatory comments about Sergio Perez.
Lewis Hamilton called out Helmut Marko (Image: Sky Sports F1)
Lewis Hamilton has called for action against Helmut Marko after Red Bull’s chief advisor made discriminatory comments about Sergio Perez’s attitude in the wake of the Italian Grand Prix.
The controversy surrounding Marko erupted after he told ServusTV: “The Italian GP was surely one of Checo Perez’s best weekends and we know about his problems in qualifying, which is where he has his doubts.
“Let’s remember that he is South American and so his head is not as focused as Max Verstappen or as Sebastian Vettel was, but racing is his forte and he had a very good race.”
These comments sparked plenty of backlash from fans across the world with plenty calling for the Austrian to lose his job with Red Bull. Despite the calls for Marko to face the sack, the 80-year-old has escaped with an apology.
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“It’s completely unacceptable what he said,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 when asked about the comments. “Whilst we say there’s no room for any type of discrimination in 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 forward.
“So 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 when you have people that are at the top, if there are people at the top that have those sorts of mindsets, that just stop us from progressing. So yeah, I’m not surprised, to be honest.”
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Helmut Marko’s comments have landed him in hot water (Image: Getty)
When asked about potential action towards Marko, Hamilton replied: “I mean that’s something to ask for Checo, but I think this is not something that you just apologise and it’s all okay. I think there needs to be more done.
“I think teams have, when they’ve had individuals from, particularly drivers, make comments but some individuals in the back, they usually are removed or at least they put out a quote and say they don’t support that kind of thing.
“So it is interesting that they haven’t done for this one, so it’s not my team and it’s not how we move as a team. It just shows how much, how important it is that we continue to do the work that I’m trying to do with the team and with the sport.”
