Red Bull team boss Christian Horner responded to anger among fans, sponsors, and the team itself: “Those comments, they weren’t right. However, the Austrian has more than once derogatorily referred to Pérez as South American, even though his passport was issued further north. “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.” ” In the face of criticism over his comments, Marko issued an apology, denying his comments were racist. He experiences fluctuations in form he’s South American, and his mental focus isn’t as consistent as it was with Max or Sebastian. This year he commented after the Italian Grand Prix: “It was certainly one of the better weekends, and we know he has issues in qualifying. “As a South American he generally has a lot of ups and downs,” Marko said on Sky Germany in 2022. Then comments about the nationality of Pérez, the only Latin American on the grid, started to creep in. POOL (Reuters) Pérez, the “South American” “Pérez is a little bit scared, but when you live in Mexico City there’s not much more security.” Formula 1 drivers protest against racism, in July 2020, in a campaign promoted by F1 itself. In the wake of the events, Marko attempted a joke that ended up causing offense in Mexico: " Max is a bit more relaxed about it,” he said. Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in February 2022, a drone and missile attack targeted an Aramco oil company refinery in Jeddah on the same weekend that Formula 1 was due to start its show. The derogatory undertones were beginning to emerge against Pérez last season. We need to speak to him and he needs to stick to Verstappen’s set-ups and be there from first practice.” Checo was sleeping at the restart.” Later that year, after a poor qualifying performance in Hungary, Marko dialed up his rhetoric: " The summer break hasn’t started yet, but he already seems to be in that mode. When Pérez made a mistake at the French Grand Prix in 2022, Marko said: “Maybe he drank tequila yesterday. It was not the first time the Red Bull director had used harsh language toward his driver. Maybe that will help him to focus again on delivering the best possible performance,” Marko said of Pérez as Verstappen pulled away in the standings. “He has now woken up from his world championship dream. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has been instrumental in the team’s successes and as head of the driver development program, in deciding who deserves to be at the wheel. Doubts began to hover over the Mexican, but the fiercest criticism came from the UK media, which began to debate who would be his best replacement: Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, or Ricciardo. His championship dreams, however, hit a wall at the Monaco Grand Prix when, in qualifying, he lost control on a circuit where he triumphed last year. In the first five races he won in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan and recorded two second-place finishes in Bahrain and Miami. Things were going well for Pérez at the start of the season. Sergio Pérez, with his skills and mistakes, has entered this spiral. The pressure on the number two is overwhelming in a Red Bull team that has not flinched when clipping the wings of its drivers in the face of a bad run. Who can be happy playing second fiddle? Both Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo have tried in their time, unsuccessfully, to snatch the wins. The dilemma has always been the second race seat. In 18 years in Formula 1, the team funded by the eponymous energy drink has had 12 drivers, of whom only two have won the drivers’ championship: Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. Sergio Pérez talks with Helmut Marko, Red Bull advisor, during the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
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