Sergio Perez points to George Russell crash as evidence of nationality bias

Sergio Perez believes the fact he’s Mexican plays a part in how he is perceived and treated by the F1 media.

Perez’s nationality has made headlines in recent weeks, due to the Mexican driver being singled out by Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, in which the 80-year-old Austrian alluded to his nationality playing a part in his failure to match Max Verstappen this season.

Perez was damned with faint praise by Marko, who told ServusTV: “Let’s remember that he 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.”

Helmut Marko apologises for Sergio Perez comments

Marko came forward to issue an apology through ServusTV, stating, “Concerning my remark about Sergio Perez, ServusTV Sport and Talk, Monday September 4: I would like to apologise for my offensive remark.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that I do not believe that we can generalise about the 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.”

Perez himself publicly accepted Marko’s apology, stating that he knew the Austrian well enough to know that he wasn’t being deliberately malicious, and that the pair had had private conversations in which Marko had apologised further.

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Sergio Perez: Being Mexican plays an influence in how I’m treated

But Perez made some eyebrow-raising nationality-focused comments himself when he appeared at a recent event at a Ford campus in Mexico, in which he spoke about the criticism he’s received during the course of this season.

Perez pointed to the example of George Russell’s catastrophic Singapore crash, in which the Mercedes driver threw away a podium place by hitting the wall on the final lap. Had Russell been Mexican, claims Perez, the crash would have resulted in a much more vitriolic media response.

“We saw it with Russell,” he said, as quoted bySpanish publication Marca.

“He crashed from third place on the last lap, but you don’t hear anyone talking about it.

“If something like that happens at Red Bull, you immediately have three hundred media channels on your roof telling you that you have to leave,” he continued, referring to the never-ending rumours that his seat is in danger with his contract coming to an end at the conclusion of 2024.

“This kind of thing happens often in Formula 1 and that’s how it works in a team environment. Also, I have the feeling that the fact that I am Mexican also has a big influence.”

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