Lewis Hamilton: Red Bull advisor's comments blaming Perez's condition on ethnicity 't

Lewis Hamilton Red Bull advisor's comments attributing Sergio Perez's condition to his ethnicity are "completely unacceptable"

Lewis Hamilton said that Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko's comments that Sergio Perez's inconsistent form in 2023 was due to his ethnicity were "completely unacceptable."

The 80-year-old Marco said after the Italian Grand Prix that Perez did not have the "focus" of F1 world champion drivers like Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel. [He is South American and is not as fully focused as Max or Sebastian," Marco said.

Perez's Red Bull teammate Verstappen is Dutch. Vettel is German. Perez is from Mexico, a country not found in the South American continent where F1 champions such as Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna were born.

Marco apologized for his comments about Perez a few days later.

"I want to apologize for my offensive remarks and make it clear that I do not believe that I can generalize about people from any country, any race or any ethnicity. I wanted to point out that the Czech Republic has had a variance in grades this year, and it was wrong to attribute it to his cultural traditions."

"I am sorry that I did not understand what you were trying to say about the Czechs, and I am sorry that I did not understand what you were trying to say.

Hamilton is the only black driver in F1 and has been outspoken about the lack of diversity in the race. Hamilton, a seven-time F1 champion, told "Sky Sports"that diversity efforts are hampered when powerful people like Marco make statements like his.

"His comments are completely unacceptable," Hamilton told Sky. 'While we say that we will not tolerate any discrimination in this sport, and it shouldn't be tolerated, for a leader or someone in his position to make comments like this is not good for us moving forward.'

"First, I think it highlights that there is still work to be done. There are a lot of people behind the scenes who are really trying to confront this sort of thing, but it's hard to maneuver if there are people at the top who think in ways that will stop our progress. Frankly, I'm not surprised.

Perez apologized Thursdayfor his comments, Marco He stated.

"I know him and I know he didn't mean it that way," Perez said. 'To me, that's what matters. When you have a personal relationship with someone, it is a feeling you have to have, and for me it is the most important thing."

Perez is second in the F1 points standings behind teammate Verstappen. Verstappen enters Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix on a 10-race Grand Prix winning streak. The other two wins are Perez's, and Red Bull has won 15 straight since the final race of the 2022 season.