F1 – Sergio Perez discriminated against, Lewis Hamilton reacts

This weekend the 15th round of the world championship is taking place in Singapore and the season is soon coming to an end. For Sergio Perez, this year will undoubtedly remain one of the most difficult. He finished very far from his teammate Max Verstappen and got a slap on the wrist from Helmut Marko. The comparison is very difficult, his title hopes quickly fell apart after his two victories in Jeddah and Baku. After the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo at the end of July, his future at Red Bull could be compromised. A few days before the arrival of the F1 circus on the Marina Bay track, Helmut Marko was questioned about the Mexican driver’s performance in the show Hangar 7 on Servus Tv. He did not hesitate to throw a stray ball at his pilot: “We know he [Perez] has problems in qualifying. He has fluctuations in his form, he is South American and therefore is not as focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] ou Sebastian [Vettel].”

“Unacceptable” remarks

Following the declaration of Helmut Marko, the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton reacted immediately. The Mercedes driver condemns these words and finds it unacceptable.

“While we say there is no place for any type of discrimination in this sport, there still is – and there is no place for it. For leaders and people in his place to make comments like this is not good, we cannot move forward. I think that firstly highlights the work that still needs to be done. There are a lot of people in the background who are really trying to fight this stuff, but it’s hard to maneuver if there are people at the top who have this kind of mentality that prevents us from progressing. I’m not surprised to be honest.”

After the controversy, Helmut Marko apologized via the television channel Servus Tv and contacted Sergio Perez in person to apologize.

Lewis Hamilton deplores Helmut Marko’s “unacceptable” comments towards Sergio Perez!

“There is no place for any discrimination in sport. Seeing team leaders and people of this status making comments like this is not good… pic.twitter.com/EmPWxAcpAe

— Off Track (@OffTrack_FR) September 14, 2023