Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko recently grabbed all the headlines for the wrong reasons following his shocking remarks about Sergio Perez. The Austrian not only once again slammed the Mexican for his poor form, but he also launched a “South American” jibe this time. As a result, several F1 fans demanded on social media that Red Bull take action against the Austrian. Now, the question arises as to whether Red Bull are actually considering parting ways with Marko.
Such questions have arisen after the 80-year-old told Sport & Talk of Servus TV in a recent interview, “Let’s remember that he (Perez) is South American, and so his head is not as focused as Max Verstappen or as Sebastian Vettel was, but racing is his forte and he had a very good race (at Monza)“.
Soon after Marko made these controversial remarks, fans hit back at him. Many have urged Red Bull to take action against their advisor since this is not the first time that the Austrian has made such derogatory remarks about Perez.
Are Red Bull parting ways with Helmut Marko?
While Red Bull have not made any statement about whether they are parting ways with Helmut Marko or not, the 80-year-old has undoubtedly faced immense backlash in the past few days. Moreover, that is not it, as some accounts, such as Henry Mill, have also uploaded fake posts about the Milton Keynes outfit having sacked the Austrian.
Well, well! Helmut Marko is done! He’s apparently even too toxic for Red Bull racing, which is telling.
Maybe they can hire Nelson Piquet next.#RedBullRacists #F1 https://t.co/XFRS1AHWdT pic.twitter.com/bJ2oKARllH— Henry Mill (@_HenryMill) September 8, 2023
On similar lines, a Red Bull fan account also wrongly notified their followers that the team had sacked Marko and condemned his remarks.
#Breaking Helmut Marko has been suspended within immediate effect regarding his latest comments.
We would like to apologize to everyone from the team’s behalf #F1 pic.twitter.com/plf4JhKE1r— RedBull Power Unit (@RedBullPU1) September 8, 2023
While fans still wait for Red Bull to issue an official statement, Marko did attempt to clarify his remarks later. The 80-year-old defended his remarks by stating that he did not mean what has been assumed by certain sections of the media.
Marko claims his remarks have been misinterpreted
Soon after he faced immense backlash on social media for his remarks on Sergio Perez, Helmut Marko issued a clarification response in a recent interview. As quoted by oe24.com, the 80-year-old said, “I didn’t mean that. I meant to say that a Mexican has a different mentality than a German or a Dutchman, but who knows, maybe it’s under control“.
It is pertinent to note that this is not the first time that Marko has made such remarks about Perez. In an interview with Sky Germany last year, the Austrian said, “As a South American, he (Perez) generally has a lot of ups and downs.”
Marko made such contentious comments despite some of F1’s finest racers hailing from South America. Legendary Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna and Argentina’s Juan Manuel Fangio are two of the many great drivers who hail from South America.
