Mexican F1 star Sergio Pérez drops sponsor over Donald Trump joke
The Force India driver took offence to a tweet written by his sponsor, Hawkers, which joked about US president-elect Donald Trump's promise to build a wall between USA and Mexico Nadal vs Thiem
Mexican Formula 1 star Sergio Perez has said he is to drop his sponsor, the sunglasses brand Hawkers, after the company made a joke over Donald Trump’s election as US President.
The Force India driver took offence to a tweet from the official Hawkers account which – although obviously intended to be light-hearted – Perez deemed as offensive to his country.
Trump's Mexican wall
Referring to comments made by Trump during his campaign that if elected he would build a wall between USA and Mexico and get the Mexicans to pay for it, the tweet (since deleted) joked:
“Mexicans! Put on these lenses so that they won’t see you crying tomorrow when you’re building the wall.”
However, Perez didn’t see the funny side and responded shortly after to say that he’d be severing his ties with the brand.
"Really bad comment"
“Really bad comment,” he tweeted. “Today I am breaking my relationship with @HawkersMX. I will never let anyone make fun of my country.”
The relationship between Perez and Hawkers is only weeks old, the brand having released it’s Perez-edition glasses on November 2 for a price of 725 Mexican pesos (approximately €32).