F1 News: Fans Call For Helmut Marko Sacking - "Enough Is Enough"
F1 fans are calling for Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko to be sacked after his comments on Monday to Servus TV about Sergio Perez.
Marko was speaking about the differences in "focus" between Perez and his teammate Max Verstappen. He commented:
“Let’s remember that he is South American, and so he is not as focused as Max Verstappen or Sebastian Vettel was.
“But racing is his forte, and he had a very good race. Overtaking three drivers, in George Russell and the Ferraris, was not easy.”
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The Austrian motorsport advisor has since released a formal public apology, reading:
"Referring to my interview in the Sport und Talk program on ServusTV on Monday September 4th, I would like to make it clear that I am firmly convinced that you cannot generalize about people, regardless of their culture, nationality or ethnic origin.
"I wanted to underline that, although Checo had a great race at Monza, Checo's performance has fluctuated greatly this year. It was wrong to make a reference to his origins. I would like to sincerely apologize for that.
"Concerning my remark about Sergio Perez, ServusTV Sport and Talk, Monday September 4: I would like to apologise for my offensive remark and want to make it absolutely clear that I do not believe that we can generalise about the people from any country, any race, any ethnicity.
"I was trying to make a point that Checo has fluctuated in his performance this year, but it was wrong to attribute this to his cultural heritage."
However, this doesn't seem to have been enough for fans who have had enough of comments like this. Here are just a select few of some comments from fans.
"This is not the first time he's done this. He has criticised [Alex] Albon, he claimed Yuki [Tsunoda] needs therapy on live TV and now he's racially abused not just [Sergio] Perez but the entire South American population.
"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. SACK HELMUT MARKO!!"
"They definitely need to get rid off him, literally every time I open Twitter I see new quotes from him"
"An apology is something. Unfortunately it is not enough though, as this is not the first time he has done this. I expect more from the FIA and F1, and definitely from Red Bull…"
"He should be punished for passing such comments, maybe even suspension from the paddock for a bit."
"Marko Out..it’s Better for Formula 1…"