Red Bull’s Team Principal was asked to comment on the matter of the team’s Special Advisor citing Perez’s Mexican heritage as the reason behind “his form fluctuations” and “not complete focus with his head”.
Christian Horner broke the team’s silence firstly by condemning the racism behind such xenophobic statements, adding that the Austrian consultant had apologised both in private and in public, and has “learned” from the situation, highlighting his own support to the Red Bull driver, a five-time winner with the team since joining in 2021.
“Firstly, those comments weren’t right, I think everyone quickly recognised that. I apologise for that, both publically and directly to Sergio, he spoke directly to Sergio about it.
“You’re always learning in life, even at eighty years of age. Lessons have been learned. Checo is a massively popular and important member of our team, I pushed very hard to sign him back then for the 2021 season, he has a huge following around the world.”
Horner remarked that such claims haven’t been lightly dismissed by the championship winning team, but that in his opinion the focus should be on Checo’s milestone race rather than on the problematic situation this weekend.
“We take that very seriously, very responsably, and I think that the fans following, not only the ones Checo has but the team has and Formula 1 has, we are very conscious of it. This is his 250th race, and we want to focus on that.”
Photo credit: Red Bull Racing
Marko’s public apology wasn’t made via Red Bull Racing’s social media channels due to the fact that he isn’t actually employed by the team, stated Horner while talking to Sky Sports.
If you take a look at companies house, however, Helmut Marko is listed as an active director at Red Bull Racing Limited.
“Obviously, from Helmut’s perspective, he has apologised. He is not an employee of Red Bull Racing, so in terms of why we didn’t put out a statement, he is part of the Red Bull “wider” group, and the group obviously issued the apology though their Servus TV channel.”
“I know he regrets what he has said, and he has apologised,” Horner added that Red Bull has been in touch with the FIA and the FOM, as the comments were an infraction of the Sporting Code every team has to follow.
The FIA issued a brief comment on Friday stating: “We can confirm that Helmut Marko has received a written warning and been reminded of his responsibilities as a public figure in motor sport in line with the FIA Code of Ethics.”
Marko’s remarks were condemned by every other Formula 1 Team Principal as well, including Mercedes’s Toto Wolff, who highlighted the seriousness of the underlying mentality issue:
“We’re laughing about South America, but it’s a topic that’s not at all funny. And it’s not only what has been said, but it’s the mindset, that you can even come up with these things. And that hasn’t got any place in F1.
“That’s not something that should have been said in the past, and certainly not now, and in the future. We all know that we need more diversity in F1, more inclusion, and the teams do their best to create an environment where this is possible.”
“And obviously statements like this don’t shine the light on F1 that F1 deserves for all of the activities,” concluded Wolff, indirectly recalling the #WeRaceAsOne campaign in 2020 against racism and supporting diversity.
