Adrian Newey Blasts Sky Sports for “Nationalistic” Bias in F1 Coverage, Cites Unfair Treatment of Verstappen and Vettel

Adrian Newey accuses Sky of biased, patriotic F1 reporting against Max Verstappen

"Perhaps it's somewhat due to the British press, to be frank, Sky wields significant global influence…"

Adrian Newey criticized Sky Sports for their "nationalistic" approach to Formula 1 broadcasting, which he believes unfairly vilified Red Bull racers Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen throughout their careers.

Since 2012, Sky has taken on the role of broadcasting F1 in the UK, succeeding the BBC in this capacity.

Sky entered the F1 scene just as Red Bull and Vettel were beginning their streak of four consecutive championships.

A decade later, Verstappen has secured three successive drivers' championships and is poised to claim his fourth in 2024.

Over the past ten years, Vettel and Verstappen have been regarded as the top competitors to Lewis Hamilton, engaging in numerous championship contests and track altercations.

Red Bull opted out of participating in Sky’s broadcast activities throughout the Mexico Grand Prix weekend in 2022, due to their dissatisfaction with an assertion suggesting Hamilton was unjustly deprived of the championship in 2021.

On the High Performance podcast, Newey discussed his belief that Sky's broadcasting could impact the public perception of Vettel and Verstappen.

"Newey expressed that from an external viewpoint, people might not completely grasp and recognize Max's true essence, similar to how they overlooked Sebastian's."

"Firstly, they both experienced a level of demonization at certain points, which I believe is quite unjust."

"Perhaps part of this is due to the British press, to speak frankly. Sky has a significant global impact given its worldwide audience, yet its reporting tends to be rather patriotic, if I may be so bold, and this could sway opinions."

Newey believes that Verstappen doesn't receive the full recognition he deserves, especially in terms of his natural ability to pilot an F1 vehicle effortlessly, drawing parallels to Fernando Alonso's skill set.

Newey remarked, “It’s as though [Verstappen] navigates the vehicle effortlessly,”. He clarified, “Obviously, he doesn’t do it without effort, but his ability to pilot the car while still having ample cognitive capacity to contemplate his driving techniques, tyre management, potential adjustments to the car’s settings, or to seek advice from [his race engineer] via radio about any uncertainties, particularly by pointing out issues, is remarkable.”

"Analyzing the race continues to intrigue me – Fernando also possesses that skill, he appears to have the ability to interpret the race dynamics even without access to all the information upfront."

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