Max Verstappen said he was tired of being “constantly disrespected” and had “had
enough” as he and his entire Red Bull team took the unprecedented step of
boycotting Sky
The world champion’s 14th win of the season, from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, was a
new Formula One record. But the achievement was soured by an extraordinary
boycott understood to have been triggered by comments made by Sky’s pitlane
reporter Ted Kravitz in Austin the previous weekend, when he said Hamilton had
been “robbed” of an eighth world championship in Abu Dhabi last year.
Verstappen refused to speak to Sky Sports after taking pole on Saturday, and the
situation escalated overnight, with Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez, team
principal Christian Horner, and senior motorsport advisor Helmut Marko all joining
in the ban, which was extended to Sky Sports’ global portfolio of channels.
Horner, speaking after the race, said the ban would only last for this race, but that the
team wanted to draw a line in the sand. “There were some derogatory comments
made so we took a break from Sky for this race,” Horner said. “Max was upset. We
were upset and we made the decision to stand together as a team.
“It won’t have done Sky any harm for us to lay down a marker. Some of the
commentary is fair but some pieces are sensationalist, and saying we ‘robbed’ anyone
of the championship, as was said in Austin, is going too far. It is not impartial or fair
or balanced. We have said our piece and will go back to normal next time.”
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‘You keep disrespecting me and at one point I will not tolerate it any more’
A spokesperson for Red Bull told Telegraph Sport there had been “longstanding
issues with the lack of balance” shown by Kravitz in particular, which had been
communicated to Sky Sports “on numerous occasions”.
Verstappen, speaking after his win, said Kravitz’s comments in Austin were the final
straw, suggesting that they were contributing to a poisonous atmosphere on social
media.
“It has been a constant kind of digging and being disrespectful, especially from one
particular person,” he said. “At one point it is enough and I don’t accept it.
“You cannot live in the past and you have to move on. Social media is a very toxic
place and if you are constantly being like that live on TV you are making it worse
instead of trying to make it better. You keep disrespecting me and at one point I will
not tolerate it anymore and that is why I decided to stop answering.”
