Sergio Perez has distanced himself from the homophobic comments made by his father, Antonio, towards Ralf Schumacher ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Earlier this year, Schumacher came out as gay and confirmed that he was in a new relationship with a man. Antonio commented on the former F1 driver’s homosexuality in a recent interview with ESPN, landing himself in hot water in the process.
The 65-year-old insisted the media owed his son an apology before taking aim at Schumacher, who has tipped Red Bull to part ways with Perez on numerous occasions.
Antonio said: “I don’t know if he was in love with Checo. Do you understand it? There are many strange things. You no longer know if he is a journalist, a woman, a gentleman.
“But his opinion doesn’t matter, not because of Checo Perez, but because of what his [ex] wife said about him.”
Perez was quizzed on his father’s comments after arriving in Las Vegas and quickly distanced himself from them, saying: “First of all, I don’t agree with any of his comments. I think he did a mistake in that regard.
“I don’t share any of his views but at the same time I don’t control what my father has to say, I can only control what I say. It’s important as a sport to always show that whatever happens on track it always remains on track.
“That’s the way I see it and we should always be an example for the rest of the world.”
It came after Schumacher issued a response to Antonio with a short message on Instagram, insisting he was not angry over his comments despite what was said.
“I would also stand behind my son 100 per cent and try to help,” wrote Schumacher. “That’s what you do as a father. As far as style is concerned, I would be different but we know Mr Perez with all his emotions.
“That’s why I’m not angry with him. However, I think that results on the track would be the better arguments.”
