Perez not offended by Marko's 'South American' comments as Hamilton's left fuming

Following the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, Red Bull's motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, caused a storm when he said Sergio Perez's inability to match Max Verstappen was down to him being South American.

Marko said: "He is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max (Verstappen) is or as Sebastian (Vettel)." 

The comments were, expectedly, not well received, with Marko later apologising for it.

Perez, who is second in this year's championship race, spoke with Marko before this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, and confirmed that they had cleared the air.

"I had a private conversation with Helmut, and he did apologise. To me, that was the main thing," the Mexican said.

"Basically, we move on. I have a personal relationship with him. Knowing the person helps a lot because I know he doesn't mean it that way.

"Personally, I didn't get offended."

Hamilton on a rant

Speaking to the media before the race weekend, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was probed on his stance on the matter. The Brit vehemently spoke out against Marko's remarks, saying that such comments prevent Formula 1 from progressing.

"It is completely unacceptable. This is not something you just apologise for and it is all okay," he said.

"Whilst we say there is no room for any type of discrimination in this sport - and there should be no room for it - to have leaders and people in his position making comments like this is not good for us moving forward.

"There are a lot of people in the background who really are combatting these kinds of things, but it is hard to manoeuvre if people at the top have mindsets which stop us from progressing."

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Hamilton has been at the