"I just can’t believe what I’m reading": Fans unimpressed by Helmut Marko's clarification for xenophobic comments about Sergio Perez

Red Bull senior Helmut Marko recently clarified his xenophobic comments about Sergio Perez. The Austrian made some harsh comments about Checo having less focus and fluctuating performances simply because of his South American origins.

This created massive waves in the F1 community as millions of people gave Marko fire for what he said. However, he recently clarified that he was only talking about the different mentalities of people and was not putting Sergio Perez down. Marko said (via oe24):

“It wasn’t meant that way. I meant that a Mexican has a different mentality than a German or a Dutchman. But who knows, maybe it’s [the mentality] controlled.”

This clarification was not enough to quiet down the enraged F1 fanbase as they continued to question the nature of Helmut Marko's comments. Some even stated that he should be kicked out of Red Bull.

Here are a few reactions:

Helmut Marko apologized for his offensive remarks towards Sergio Perez through ServusTV as well. He said:

"I would like to apologize for my offensive remark and want to make it absolutely clear that I do not believe that we can generalize about 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, F1 fans are not ready to accept a simple apology for what he said about the Red Bull driver.

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Sergio Perez is confident of excelling in the remaining races of the 2023 F1 season

Perez finished second in the 2023 F1 Italian GP and is looking forward to consistently delivering his best performances for the rest of the season. He was delighted to end up in second place behind his teammate Max Verstappen after intense battles with Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

"I think we have done a lot of progress on the setup side," he said to Nico Rosberg in the parc ferme interview. "I am feeling a lot more comfortable in the car, so I do expect that we'll see my best form in the next races."

Sergio Perez is currently second in the drivers' championship with 219 points.