'No place in F1' for Marko's comments on Perez, say Wolff, Brown and Steiner

Marko has come under a huge amount of criticism ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix for his remarks on Sergio Perez’s inconsistency, which he suggested were in relation to his South American ethnicity.

Lewis Hamilton has been outspoken on issues of a similar nature in previous years, and has once again had his say this time round. His Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has followed suit, touching on the diversity and inclusion often discussed as an issue in Formula 1. 

“It's not only what has been said, but it's the mindset that you can even come up with with these things, and that hasn't got any place in Formula One”, said Wolff. “That's not something that should have been said in the past and certainly not now in the future.

“We all know that we need more diversity in Formula One, more inclusion, and the teams do their best to create an environment where this is possible”, he added. “Obviously statements like this don’t shine the light on Formula One it deserves for all of its activities.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown also gave his thoughts: “I think you have to be very careful what you say to anybody. It was not a great comment. We can understand why people were offended by it.

“You have to be very respectful of everyone and not make comments that can be viewed inappropriately.”

Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner echoed Brown’s view: “Yeah, I agree with Zak. I mean, stereotyping these days doesn't work. You know, we really need to be careful what you say.”

Marko has apologised both publically and privately to Perez, with Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner also critiscing his comments.