FIA gets in Marko’s face with comments about Czech Perez

of FIA A written warning was issued to the sports advisor. red bullHelmut Marko said this Friday after the Austrian blamed his ethnic origin for the poor form of the team’s Mexican driver, Checo Perez.

Marko, 80, apologized last week for calling Perez a “South American” who was less focused than his dominant Red Bull teammates. max verstappenor now retired team champion, Sebastian Vettel.

“We can confirm that Helmut Marko has received a written warning and been reminded of his responsibilities as a public figure in motorsport in accordance with the FIA ​​Code of Ethics,” an FIA spokesperson said at the Grand Prix from Singapore.

Checho Perez said at Thursday’s media day that he had accepted a personal apology from Marko, but Marko’s comments continued to provoke strong reactions in the paddock.

“I had a private conversation with Helmut, he apologized to me and that was the most important thing to me. And basically we decided to move on. I have a personal relationship with him, and I think you can feel that way every time you watch a movie.” “But it helps a lot to know the person. Because I know you don’t mean it in a serious way (racist).I know Helmut, so we have a personal relationship and I don’t mean it. I know that, so I accepted his apology.”That was not my intention,” the pilot from Guadalajara said.

“We laugh that[Mexico]is in South America, but it’s not a funny topic at all,” the Mercedes team boss said. toto wolfto journalists.

“It’s not just about what’s been said, it’s about the mentality that you can even make these things up, and that doesn’t exist in F1. It’s not something that should have been said in the past, and certainly not now. It shouldn’t be talked about.”

His comments reflected strong criticism of Mercedes’ drivers lewis hamiltonHe said Thursday that Marco’s words were “more than just an apology and everything is fine.”

“His comments are completely unacceptable. We say there should be no discrimination of any kind in this sport, and there should be none, but for a coach and people in his position to make comments like this… “That’s not good for the sport.” “We can move forward. I think this just highlights the work that needs to be done,” he said on Sky Sports.

The head of the Red Bull team is christian hornertold Sky Sports TV: “Those comments were not correct. Helmut recognized this immediately and apologized publicly and directly to Sergio. He spoke directly to Sergio about the issue.”

“As for why we didn’t issue a statement because he is not an employee of Red Bull Racing, he is part of the Red Bull Group and the group has apologized through the Servas TV channel,” the Briton said. Problem solved.