Ralf Schumacher issues response to Sergio Perez's dad's homophobic comment

Ralf Schumacher insists he "is not angry" with father despite comments that appeared to make fun of his sexual orientation.

, a six-time race winner during his career, . He posted that he was in a relationship with a man, and other prominent figures in the F1 community and beyond.

However, Antonio Perez Garibay appeared to make fun of Schumacher's sexuality as he responded to the Sky Germany pundit's comments about the future of his son, who is in danger of losing his race seat with .

Speaking to Mexican media, he said: "There is a driver who was a Formula 1 driver, [turned] journalist. He first stated that Checo was already out of Red Bull. The following week, [Schumacher] came out of the closet.

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"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 does not matter, not because of Checo Perez, but because of what his [ex-]wife said about him."

The latter part of his comment appeared to be referencing . She claimed she did not know about his sexual orientation and described the announcement as a "stab in the heart", though .

Schumacher has since taken to social media to respond to Perez Garibay's comments. He posted a screengrab of an article in German, which featured a photograph of the Mexican speaking with the headline: "Perez Sr. goes after Schumacher."

And in the caption he wrote: "I would also stand behind my son 100 percent and try to help. That is what you do as a father. As for the style, I would be different but we know Mr. Perez with all his emotions. That is why I am not angry with him. However, I believe that results on the track would be the better argument."

Perez, 34, signed a new Red Bull contract earlier this season but has struggled for form ever since. He avoided the axe over the summer break but the upturn in results the team was hoping would happen has failed to materialise.

He sits eighth in the drivers' standings with just three rounds to go in the season, having scored 151 points. Team-mate is on the brink of the title having scored 393 in the same amount of time, though the Dutchman's strong results look unlikely to be enough for Red Bull to retain their constructors' crown as are 49 points ahead, while they are also behind .