Lewis Hamilton has called out Red Bull and more specifically advisor Helmut Marko over the team’s treatment of driver Sergio Perez. The Mexican has regularly been criticised from within his own camp this season as he struggles to match the performance levels of Max Verstappen.
The 33-year-old heads into the final four rounds of the season 226 points behind his team-mate, who has recorded 15 wins compared to Checo’s two. With such a gulf in results between the pair, Marko has been quick to criticise Red Bull’s number two driver.
After regularly bashing his performances on Sundays and struggles in qualifying, the Austrian advisor took things a step too far after the Italian Grand Prix, citing Perez’s Mexican heritage as a reason why he will never be able to challenge Verstappen for a World Championship.
Addressing the challenges Checo has faced this season, Hamilton said: “I haven’t been in the exact position Checo is in. But as a driver, I understand the psychological and the mental pressures are weighed so heavily on you. It’s hard to explain and to put into words.
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“I think he’s got amazing support around him, I think he’s carried himself really well. I don’t think his team has been really massively supportive. I wouldn’t say ‘the team’, because there’s a lot of people within a team. But one of the particular spokespersons (Marko) has not been really great in helping psychologically.
“If I heard Toto talking negatively about me on the weekends, it would be really quite tough. So [it is] a difficult environment for him, but I think he’s dealt with it to the best of his ability. I was so excited for him at the beginning of the year because he was driving so well.
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“At one point I think he was in the lead of the championship, you know, so I was like ‘ah shoot, we’ve finally got the best of Checo’. But it’s a really long year, it’s a really long season. It’s the most demanding sport that there is and the best thing I think about Checo is that he just keeps getting back up, keeps trying.
“One thing for sure is that Mexico is gonna show out for him this weekend and hopefully that… When I’m at Silverstone it gives you an extra bit of [lap] time, so I have no doubt this weekend he’ll have that.”
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