- Antonio Lobato had to issue an apology following a highly inappropriate joke about Michael Schumacher
- The incident occurred during a post-race conversation on Spanish TV’s DAZN Show
- Schumacher’s ailing health became the subject of disparaging comments by Lobato
A Formula One commentator, Antonio Lobato had to issue an apology following a highly inappropriate joke about Michael Schumacher during a live television broadcast.
The incident occurred during a post-race conversation on Spanish TV’s DAZN Show, following the Japanese Grand Prix, Lobato mentioned Schumacher’s name.
Schumacher’s ailing health became the subject of disparaging comments by Lobato. The tactless remark rapidly circulated online, causing outrage among fans for its insensitivity towards the Formula 1 legend’s deteriorating health.
In response, a fellow pundit commented, saying, “Adrian Newey (Red Bull engineer) should be nervous because Antonio Lobato is on his way.”
Antonio Lobato. Photo/Superdeporte
Lobato retorted, saying, “Let Michael be nervous! Well… not Michael, he can’t be nervous.”
Following the exchange, the pundits, including Noemi de Miguel, Pedro de la Rosa, and Toni Cuquerella, shared a laugh on air.
The incident prompted numerous calls for Lobato to issue an apology to Michael’s family, with some individuals even proposing that DAZN should consider terminating his employment.
“You don’t disrespect ANYONE that way, especially when thousands of people are watching you. Journalism in Spain has a very bright present and future with people like this,” an X user tweeted.
“Using someone’s medical condition as the punchline of a joke is unacceptable and abhorrent,” another user added.
Following this backlash, Lobato released an apology video on X. In the five-minute-long video, he attempted to clarify the incident, offering an explanation for what occurred.
The Spanish F1 pundit admitted that he erred unintentionally and blamed it his failure to correctly express himself. He tried to explain his clumsiness on jetlag in Madrid which he was gracious enough to admit it doesn’t fully explain his actions.
”It was simply a mistake of pure clumsiness, of pure inability to express myself correctly, maybe because of too many hours up, jetlag in Madrid, or whatever – which is not an excuse for those of you who didn’t see it. What happened is that I went too far and made an expression that is not good, it is not accurate, it is not fine,” he explained.
He pleaded with his fans to understand that he never intended to make a joke out of Schumacher’s ill health because it is improper.
Lobato only realized the weight of his words after saying these words and he felt terrible that he said such.
The front cover of the ‘exclusive interview Michael Schumacher had with die Aktuelle
His statement comes in the wake of a fake feature story by Die Aktuelle, a German magazine a while back.
Schumacher’s family threatened to sue the German publication over a front cover ‘exclusive interview’ allegedly with F1 legend Michael Schumacher yet it generated his quotes from artificial intelligence.
Die Aktuelle claimed that this was the first mega interview that Schumacher was giving since his December 2013 skiing accident in the French Alpines.
The magazine reported that the former F1 driver had granted an exclusive interview that rapidly made headlines because his family has kept him off the public since the accident.
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