Rachel Brookes Leaves Sky Sports F1 After Opening Up About Online Abuse Following Max Verstappen Interview

Veteran Formula 1 reporter Rachel Brookes has announced her departure from Sky Sports after more than 14 years with the broadcaster, bringing an end to a long chapter in her television career. The announcement comes only days after she publicly discussed the severe online abuse she received following a widely debated interview with four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen.

Brookes confirmed the news ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, revealing that although she is leaving Sky Sports, she has no intention of walking away from Formula 1. Instead, she plans to continue working within the sport in a different role and has already confirmed she will be present at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next month.

The experienced reporter shared the update through social media, explaining that she is preparing for a new stage in her career while reflecting fondly on the many years she spent covering Formula 1 for Sky.

“After many years at Sky I am moving on to exciting new ventures and looking forward to what comes next,” she wrote.

Brookes also reassured fans that Formula 1 remains a major part of her life despite leaving the broadcaster.

“I have left the Sky F1 team but F1 still has my heart, so I’ll still be involved in it,” she added before promising to reveal more about her future plans in due course.

She finished her message by telling followers that she would see them at Silverstone, fueling speculation about what her next role in the Formula 1 paddock might involve.

Her departure marks the end of an era for Sky Sports F1. Since joining the broadcaster, Brookes has become one of the network’s most recognizable reporters, regularly interviewing drivers, team principals, and senior figures before and after races around the world.

Throughout more than a decade of coverage, she established a reputation for asking direct questions while delivering breaking news and conducting live interviews from the paddock and pit lane.

Away from broadcasting, Brookes has also built a successful career as an author. She wrote F1 Racing: Drive: The Secrets to Formula One Success, a book exploring what it takes to succeed at the highest level of motorsport.

However, her final weeks with Sky have coincided with renewed attention surrounding an interview she conducted with Max Verstappen during last year’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Earlier this week, Brookes appeared on the Road to Success podcast, where she spoke candidly about the intense criticism she received after questioning Verstappen following a controversial race incident.

The interview took place shortly after Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty for colliding with Mercedes driver George Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix.

The incident generated widespread debate across Formula 1, with former world champion Nico Rosberg suggesting during the race broadcast that Verstappen’s contact with Russell may have been deliberate.

When Verstappen later appeared for his post-race interview, Brookes decided to ask him directly about the incident.

She recalled asking the Dutch driver whether the collision had been intentional.

According to Brookes, Verstappen responded simply by asking whether it really mattered.

She replied that she believed it did matter—not only for Formula 1 fans watching around the world but also for younger viewers who admire the reigning world champion.

Brookes explained that she wanted people to appreciate Verstappen’s exceptional driving talent, but also believed incidents like that inevitably attracted criticism and raised important questions.

Although the exchange lasted only a short time, it quickly became one of the most discussed interviews of the race weekend.

Speaking on the podcast, Brookes revealed that many fellow broadcasters privately praised her willingness to ask a difficult question that others had avoided.

She said numerous journalists and television colleagues contacted her afterwards to congratulate her for addressing the controversial topic directly.

According to Brookes, several of her own colleagues admitted they would not have asked Verstappen the same question because they feared the reaction it might generate.

While she appreciated the support from fellow professionals, the response on social media proved dramatically different.

Brookes described the abuse she received online as some of the worst she has ever experienced during her broadcasting career.

She explained that many of the messages quickly moved beyond criticism of her journalism and became deeply personal attacks.

Among the most upsetting comments were messages claiming she should never have children because she supposedly set a poor example.

She said the abuse became so extreme that reading many of the comments was genuinely disturbing.

Brookes also expressed disappointment that some of the abusive messages appeared to come from social media accounts belonging to parents.

She recalled seeing profiles featuring photographs of fathers with their daughters, making the hostility even more difficult to understand.

Reflecting on the situation, Brookes questioned why a sporting incident could provoke such personal attacks.

She stressed that the disagreement centered on a Formula 1 race and believed some fans had lost perspective by allowing sporting rivalries to escalate into online abuse.

Describing the messages as “utterly horrendous,” Brookes admitted that the situation eventually forced her to disable comments on her Instagram account to protect her own wellbeing.

Closing the comment section became the simplest way to avoid the constant stream of hostile responses that continued long after the interview itself.

Her experience has highlighted the growing challenges faced by sports broadcasters in the age of social media.

While journalists routinely ask difficult questions as part of their job, online platforms increasingly expose them to immediate and sometimes deeply personal criticism from supporters of athletes and teams.

Brookes’ willingness to discuss her experience publicly has sparked wider conversations about abuse directed toward broadcasters, particularly female journalists working in high-profile sports.

The controversy surrounding the interview itself stemmed from Verstappen’s collision with George Russell during the Spanish Grand Prix.

Following the incident, race stewards issued Verstappen a 10-second time penalty, significantly affecting his final result.

The sanction dropped the Red Bull driver from fifth place to tenth in the race classification, costing him valuable championship points.

Verstappen later acknowledged after the race that he had made a mistake during the incident, although debate over the collision continued among fans and analysts.

Those lost points ultimately proved costly.

By the end of the championship season, Verstappen narrowly missed out on another Formula 1 world title, finishing just two points behind eventual champion Lando Norris.

Although the interview attracted enormous attention at the time, Brookes has consistently maintained that asking difficult questions is a fundamental responsibility of journalists covering elite sport.

Throughout her career, she has become respected for her professionalism and willingness to challenge drivers when circumstances require.

As she prepares to begin a new chapter away from Sky Sports, Brookes leaves behind a significant legacy within Formula 1 broadcasting.

Her years of reporting from the paddock helped make her one of the most familiar faces in Sky’s coverage, while her recent comments have also drawn attention to the growing issue of online abuse facing media professionals.

Although her next destination has yet to be announced, Brookes has made it clear that Formula 1 remains at the center of her future plans.

With the British Grand Prix at Silverstone approaching, fans are expected to see her back in the paddock once again, this time representing a new venture as she continues her career within the sport she says still has her heart.