Verstappen’s boycott of Sky Sports exposes ‘British-Bias’ in F1 once again (Update)

(GMM) Formula 1 broadcaster Sky and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen have declared that their spat and boycott are now over.

In Mexico, the energy drink owned team back its driver and imposed a boycott of Sky’s British, Italian and German coverage of the sport, with world champion Verstappen hitting out at arguably biased recent coverage.

Sky UK executives reportedly travelled to Red Bull’s factory in Milton Keynes last week for clear-the-air talks, and pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz – whose coverage triggered the affair – confirmed that he met with the Dutch driver at Interlagos.

“We met, sat down and had a good talk. As Max said, we have drawn a line under it.”

Indeed, when speaking with the media in Brazil on Thursday, a reporter pointed out that Verstappen was again answering questions posed by Sky pundits.

“Yeah, we drew a line under it,” said the back-to-back reigning world champion. “So we just keep on going. And yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

There is an inherent British Bias in F1. It has been there for decades and the fact that Sky Sports is British  (as are all their commentators), and their commentary is the main F1 TV feed in most countries, they simply cannot help themselves.

British drivers are played up as ‘gods’ and if any other driver is better (like Dutchman Max Verstappen) then it is never their driving talent – it must be the car.

Like it wasn’t the car when Brit Lewis Hamilton won all his titles? Of course, it was.  Now that he no longer has the best car, he cannot win a race.

Speaking to the media after winning his 14th race of the season, Max Verstappen commented on his boycott of Sky Sports. He said it had to do with the ‘constant disrespect’ that not only he but his team was subjected to all season. He said:

“It had nothing to do with this weekend, but this year has been a constant, kind of like digging and being disrespectful, especially from one particular person. At one point, it’s enough, I don’t accept it.”

The ‘one particular person’ is pit reporter Ted Kravitz and his commentary over Max Verstappen’s title win last season.

What this boycott was however able to do was once again reignite the debate around the F1 coverage’s ‘British-Bias’.

Kravitz first referenced how Lewis Hamilton was robbed of the title in 2021 in Abu Dhabi as he said:

“(Hamilton) doesn’t win a race all year and then finally comes back at a track where he could win the first race all year, battling the same guy who won the race he was robbed in the previous year, and manages to finish ahead of him. What a script and a story that would have been. But that’s not the way the script turned out today, was it?”

Kravitz would further go on to insinuate that the only reason Verstappen beat Hamilton was ‘pretty much because of Adrian Newey’. He said:

“Because the guy that beat him after being robbed actually overtook him, because he’s got a quicker car, because of engineering and Formula 1 and design, and pretty much because of (Adrian Newey) over there.”

Kravitz ended the monolog by saying that Max Verstappen doesn’t seem to be a driver capable of winning a championship in a normal way, saying:

“Verstappen is around the (Austin) paddock; he seems very happy with himself. He doesn’t seem to be a driver capable of winning a championship in a normal way.”

This is not the only instance when Ted Kravitz or other Sky Sports members have made such comments. Earlier in the 2022 F1 Mexican GP weekend, Simon Lazenby claimed that Max Verstappen’s two world titles were a result of Red Bull’s cost cap breach.

Sportskeeda did an excellent article on ‘British-Bias’ in F1 and how the sport can address it. The conspiracy theory cooked up around Yuki Tsunoda’s safety car-inducing DNF at the 2022 F1 Dutch GP, which caused a social media storm. Red Bull strategy engineer Hannah Schmidt was the target of horrible abuse by Lewis Hamilton fans as a result.

Moving on from that, what has been interesting has been the reaction from the British media to the Sky Sports boycott by Max Verstappen. One publication compared Verstappen to Vladimir Putin. Another dug into the Dutchman’s past when the Red Bull driver used racial slurs against Lance Stroll. There’s a third publication that called Christian Horner a “loser”.

The fact that a publication that used to be a benchmark of F1 excellence, Autosport, can come up with an ‘Open Letter to Max Verstappen‘ was shocking for any F1 fan. A publication like this leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to impartial journalism.

It is, however, a shortcoming of F1 as it allows Sky Sports to have the monopoly. What F1 needs, on the other hand, is a more neutral broadcasting.

Former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe has been working with Sky Sports after the IndyCar season was over (he does the IndyCar broadcasts) and he is a breath of fresh air. Most of his work has been on the F1 Pro TV broadcasts and Sky Sport’s post-race commentary.  He will again work the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Tired of the British bias, Hinchcliffe has been getting rave reviews from fans on social media. The best thing Sky could do at this point is to hire Hinchcliffe full time and move Lewis Hamilton brown-noser Kravitz to their janitor staff.

We’re at a very interesting point in F1 as the reigning world champion has called out the biggest broadcaster of the sport. It will be interesting to see what happens next and whether there is constructive change on the way, which everyone will undoubtedly be hoping for. Sky Sports will be at Red Bull today to discuss their boycott and hopefully some constructive change will come from it.