Mexican Formula 1 driver Sergio Pérez "has dumped one of his sponsors for sending a disrespectful tweet about his compatriots," according to the BBC. He was "incensed" after sunglasses manufacturer Hawkers tweeted in the wake of Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election that Mexicans "should buy its shades to hide their tears" when Trump began to build a border wall. The driver said that he would "not allow anyone to make fun of his country." One of the company's founders, David Moreno, published a video message on Twitter in Spanish saying that he and his team had committed "a grave error" and were "sincerely sorry about the comment, which they have since erased from their Twitter feed." He said that the tweet had been "a joke, a joke in bad taste" (BBC, 11/10). REUTERS' Alan Baldwin reported Trump promised before the polls to build a "big, beautiful, powerful" border wall with Mexico to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants. Pérez tweeted, "What a bad commentary. Today I am ending my relations with @HawkerMX. I will never let anyone laugh at my country." He would not "say how much the brand was paying him but told reporters at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Thursday that his mind was made up," even though production had started on a run of some 20,000 glasses bearing his name. The sponsorship "had only recently been agreed, he added." Pérez: "It was a very unfortunate comment about my country. ... I didn't find it funny at all. I feel sorry because it's a great brand, they've done really well but I'm not willing to stay there" (REUTERS, 11/10). The PA's Philip Duncan reported the Mexican driver is financially backed by Carlos Slim, "one of the world's wealthiest men." Pérez said, "It is a shame that the brand pays for it. It is a mistake by one person, and I am sure he regrets it now but that is how things are in life sometimes" (PA, 11/10).
