Red Bull advisor Halmut Marko slapped with written warning by FIA for xenophobic slur aimed at Sergio Perez

RED BULL advisor Helmut Marko has been hit with a written warning by the FIA for his comments made towards Sergio Perez.

The outspoken Austrian was quoted saying Perez, who is from Mexico, "is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] is or as Sebastian [Vettel]".

The remarks about his own team's driver caused a backlash on social media, especially in Mexico, which is in North America.

Perez has already received an apology from Marko, 80, but now the FIA have issued their own warning.

The FIA say that Marko received a "written warning and was reminded of his responsibilities as a public figure in motorsport in line with the FIA code of ethics."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner addressed the issue ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday.

He told Sky Sports: "Firstly those comments weren’t right and Helmut quickly realised that and apologised for that, both publicly and directly to Sergio.

"He spoke directly to Sergio about it and you’re always learning in life, even at 80 years of age. Inevitably lessons have been learnt.

"Checo is a massively popular member of our team, he’s an important member of our team.

"I pushed very hard to sign him for the 2021 season, we have a huge following around the world and we take that very seriously and responsibly.

"The fan following, not just that Checo has but the team has and Formula 1 has, we’re very conscious of.

"This is his 250th race, we want to focus on that."

Marko also took aim at Perez last summer when he joked that the 33-year-old was drunk on tequila after he blew his podium chances at the French Grand Prix.