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Mercedes F1 co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been asked to apologise for comments he made in an interview with Sky News by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Ratcliffe stated that the UK has been "colonised by immigrants".

British billionaire Ratcliffe has a 33.33% share in Mercedes through his British multinational petrochemical company INEOS, and has been a co-owner of the F1 outfit since December 2020.

In full, Ratcliffe said: "You can't have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonised. It's costing too much money.

"The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn't it?"

Ratcliffe, who resides in Monaco, is also co-owner of Manchester United Football Club and has received backlash from supporter groups.

As well as making his comments on immigration in the UK, Ratcliffe criticised the current prime minister, declaring him "too nice" to do "difficult things".

In response, Starmer called for the 73-year-old to apologise, stating on social media platform X: "Offensive and wrong. Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country. Jim Ratcliffe should apologise."

Mercedes has long been a leader in the F1 paddock when it comes to diversity and inclusion, with several initiatives and programmes established over the years.

In 2020, the Brackley-based outfit set up the 'Accelerate 25' programme, a five-year initiative aimed at ensuring that 25% of all new starters within the team came from underrepresented groups.

RacingNews365 has approached Mercedes for comment and is awaiting a reply.

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