Helmut Marko has been at the center of controversy for nearly 2 weeks. His disrespectful comments towards Red Bull driver Sergio “Checo” Perez and his ethnicity received immense backlash. At the Singapore GP, which started on Friday, this became a hot topic of discussion. Lewis Hamilton condemned such derogatory comments and so did several F1 stakeholders. Haas Boss, Guenther Steiner, and Mercedes’ Toto Wolff joined forces to unabashedly shun RB’s Team Advisor’s statements.

Sergio Perez‘s Qualifying woes continued at the Italian GP. Though he made up for it with a heroic climb to secure P2 at Monza, Helmut Marko had to say otherwise. “He is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] is or as Sebastian [Vettel],” Marko told ServusTV, as quoted by Reuters. This statement didn’t go down well with either Steiner or Wolff.

In the Friday press conference at the Marina Bay Circuit, Steiner said, “Stereotyping, these days, doesn’t work anymore. We need to be careful what you say. Sometimes it’s very difficult to do, because what you say, you don’t mean it and then you shouldn’t say it, obviously, if you’re aware of it. I think it is what it is and I think they’re dealing with it and I was surprised to hear that Mexico was in South America.”

Building on Steiner’s sarcastic comment at the end, Toto Wolff said, “Yeah, we’re laughing about South America but it’s a topic that’s not at all funny and it’s not only what has been said but it’s the mindset that you can even come up with these things and that hasn’t got any place in Formula 1, that’s not something that should have been said in the past, and certainly not now or in the future.”

The Austrian elaborated further, talking about the impact that it could have on F1’s identity despite it being a progressive organization. “We all know that we need more diversity in Formula 1, more inclusion, and the teams do their best to create an environment where this is possible. And obviously, statements like this don’t shine the light on Formula 1 that Formula 1 deserves for all of their activities.”

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While the public discussions and debate surrounding this topic go on, Sergio Perez has given the RB taskmaster a clean chit.

Despite acknowledging the “Disrespectful” nature of comments, Sergio Perez forgives Helmut Marko

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner revealed how Helmut Marko personally apologized to Sergio Perez after creating a stir in the public. Because of the good personal relationship they share, the matter seems to have been solved within the team.

Addressing Marko’s apology, Perez said, “I took his apology, because I know Helmut from the personal relationship that we have, that he doesn’t mean it that way. And I didn’t get offended at all, personally. Obviously, those comments, when you read them in isolation, can be very disrespectful,”

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F1 has taken strides in combating such social evils. To see it getting addressed and abolished in the public domain restores the faith that fans have in the sport.