Marko imposes (partial) speaking ban on himself: 'Don't talk about Perez riot'

Helmut Marko is imposing a partial speaking ban on himself. Red Bull Racing's Austrian advisor has been discredited after making insulting statements towards Sergio Perez and South Americans, but will no longer comment on the matter. He reveals this to F1-Insider. "If questions come, I will not answer them. I only talk about sporting matters," Marko revealed ahead of the race.

Marko received a lot of criticism after an appearance on the programme Sport und Talk on ServusTV. There, Marko claimed that Perez was suffering from 'form fluctuations' and that this might just have had something to do with his 'South American heritage.' A day later, Marko announced via a statement that he had no intention of offending anyone and apologised. Nevertheless, the storm has not yet subsided: petitions have been started for Marko's dismissal, especially in Mexico. A German newspaper also called on Red Bull Racing to dismiss the external adviser.

Christian Horner will talk to the media in Singapore about all that has occurred in recent days, Red Bull told GPblog on Monday. Marko apparently will not, so he revealed. It will undoubtedly take some getting used to for Marko, who is known for not hiding his heart. In any case, Marko will not (yet) avoid the media completely.

No doubt Sergio Perez will also be asked questions on Thursday about the incident with Marko, who has criticised the Mexican more often in recent months. Perez has not yet responded to the matter either. Incidentally, it is still unknown whether Perez has been designated for the press conference ahead of the race weekend.