At the US Grand Prix, Max Verstappen snatched Lewis Hamilton’s first win of the season late. Sky journalist Ted Kravitz then makes the connection to the dramatic World Cup final in 2021 and devises a Formula 1 script. Verstappen doesn’t seem to like that – which is why he no longer speaks to the broadcaster.
Max Verstappen is a two-time world champion in Formula 1, a 33-time Grand Prix winner, a motorsport legend shortly after his 25th birthday – and now apparently also snapped. At least that’s how the news can be interpreted that the Dutchman will no longer speak to Sky on Red Bull Racing services during the race weekend in Mexico. According to ESPN, the trigger is a comment by a British Sky journalist who writes “Telegraaf” that the boycott could also extend to the Italian and German branches.
Verstappen did not speak to Sky after qualifying and also plans to refuse any conversation about the race in Mexico City this Sunday (9 p.m. / Sky and in the live ticker on ntv.de). According to ESPN, it is unclear whether this refusal should be limited to the current weekend or even maintained for the rest of the year. After the Mexican Grand Prix, there are still two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi on the Formula 1 calendar. According to the report, Verstappen is bothered by statements by the renowned reporter Ted Kravitz.
In his debriefing of the Texas Grand Prix last week, Kravitz drew a line between Verstappen’s recent win at Austin and his highly controversial success at the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi. There, the Red Bull driver was able to overtake Lewis Hamilton on the last lap after the race control had ended a late safety car phase with a generous interpretation of the rules – that gave Verstappen the chance to overtake and crashed, which was ultimately decisive for the World Cup Formula 1 in months of discussions. The world motorsport association FIA finally admitted a mistake and relieved race director Michael Masi of his duties. The result, however, remained unchanged.
In Austin, Hamilton had led the race until the final phase, before Verstappen in the superior Red Bull gradually reduced the gap and snatched the success from the British record world champion. Kravitz took this – and the reports that actor Brad Pitt is currently working on a Formula 1 film – as an opportunity to create a kind of script. This season’s winless Hamilton “doesn’t win all year, then comes down to a track where he can win for the first time and he’s fighting the same guy who won the race that was stolen from him last year,” Kravitz said. Statements according to ESPN.
However, Kravitz went further, saying, “What a script and what a story that would have been. But that’s not how it went today.” And that’s because Verstappen “has the faster car”, which, according to Kravitz, is mainly due to Adrian Newey. Newey is one of the most successful engineers in Formula 1 and has earned a reputation as a mastermind with his creative and, above all, profitable concepts. Verstappen seems to be bothered by these statements by Kravitz. So much so that he now rejects his employer as a whole. Verstappen had already boycotted the Netflix series “Drive to Survive”, one of the drivers of the current success of Formula 1, because he did not agree with the depiction of the rivalries between the drivers.
(This article was first published on Sunday, October 30, 2022.)
