Author Archives: PressBox

Rachel Brookes said her exit from Sky Sports F1 had been planned for months before she announced it in June, and she rejected speculation that Max Verstappen played any part in her departure. Brookes, who left after 14 years with Sky, said the move was not as sudden as it appeared and that the online abuse she received after interviewing Verstappen had already been resolved before she went. She said many people assumed her departure was linked to that interview about Verstappen’s incident with George Russell at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, but she said it was not the reason she left.

Brookes said she had time to say goodbye to colleagues, teams and drivers, and described the reaction inside the Formula 1 paddock as warm and supportive. In a TikTok video, she shared pictures of walking and talking with Lewis Hamilton before the two embraced, and said she had told him about her departure. Brookes said Hamilton gave her a massive hug and hoped to see her back in the paddock soon. She also said Charles Leclerc gave her the biggest hug in Canada, and other drivers sent video messages saying they would miss her.

Brookes said the paddock felt like a family and that she was overwhelmed by the response to leaving Sky. She said she still expected to be involved in Formula 1 and hinted that her career in the sport was not over. Brookes also praised Craig Slater as the person ready to step into her role at Sky.

James Vowles is under growing pressure at Williams after the team’s difficult start to the 2026 F1 season, with former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner saying the team is going backward and needs a solution by the end of the year. Vowles is not in immediate danger of losing his job, but Steiner said he could run out of time if the slump continues into the first five or six races of 2027, when leadership changes could follow.

Williams missed the first week of pre-season testing and began the 2026 rules era with an overweight, off-pace car, with weight and chassis problems holding back the FW48. The team has made little progress since then and sat ninth in the constructors’ championship with 11 points heading into the summer break after a difficult Hungarian Grand Prix. Steiner said Williams had promised progress but was moving in the wrong direction, and he did not expect the team to score many more points this year.

The poor form has also frustrated Carlos Sainz Jr. and Alex Albon, with Sainz understood to be considering his options if results do not improve. Williams has slipped behind Aston Martin’s upgraded Budapest package and is also fighting Audi for eighth place, leaving Vowles’ future linked to whether the team can reverse its slide before the end of 2026 and into the start of the FW49 project for 2027.

Honda’s revised Formula 1 power unit completed its first on-track running at the Hungaroring during an Aston Martin filming day on Wednesday, giving the team its first public look at the upgraded engine package ahead of its planned race debut at the Dutch Grand Prix next month. Honda said the unit ran for 46 laps with Jak Crawford driving, and that more mileage was planned at Zandvoort. The company said the new-spec engine included an updated combustion chamber, changes to the pre-chamber, reduced friction from a revised lubrication system and improved reliability. Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara said the target was “a reasonably big step in performance” rather than a small one.