Red Bull adviser and driver development program head Helmut Marko apologized Friday for remarks attributing Mexican driver Sergio Pérez’s recent up-and-down performances to his heritage.
"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 the people from any country, any race, any ethnicity," Marko said in a statement released by ServusTV in Salzburg, Austria.
Marko made the widely condemned comment in question on Monday, appearing on the Red Bull-owned German-language station a day after Pérez finished second in the Italian Grand Prix.
"We know that he has problems in qualifying, he has fluctuations in form, he is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] is or as Sebastian [Vettel]," Marko said.
Pérez is North American, having been born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Marko's initial attempt to clarify his remark appeared to double down on his original thought, as oe24 in Austria reported him saying, "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 controlled."
