Rachel Brookes says Sky F1 exit was planned months before June announcement
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 31, 2026
Brookes exit
Rachel Brookes said her exit from Sky Sports F1 was planned for months before she made it public, and she made clear that the move did not come out of nowhere inside the paddock. Speaking for the first time about the departure on the Essential F1 podcast after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Brookes said the decision felt abrupt from the outside, but she had time to say goodbye to colleagues, teams, drivers and Lewis Hamilton. That detail matters because it frames the exit as a controlled career step rather than a sudden break from Formula 1. Brookes also said she had already told people close to her before the announcement, which helped explain the emotional wave that followed once the news became public. She described the response around her departure as overwhelming and said the Formula 1 paddock felt like a family, a sign of how deeply she was embedded in the series she covered. The farewell was not limited to broadcasters and team personnel. Brookes said drivers reached out with video messages and told her they would miss her. She said that reaction reflected the close relationships she built across the sport, and that the goodbye came with a level of warmth that matched the length of her time around F1.
Verstappen abuse
Brookes also moved to shut down the idea that her departure had anything to do with Max Verstappen or the online abuse she received after interviewing him. She said that issue was resolved quickly before she left, and she stressed that she has a good relationship with Verstappen. That point is central because the interview and the reaction to it drew attention well before her exit became public, yet Brookes said the two matters should not be linked. The interview that triggered the abuse centered on Verstappen’s incident with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix, but Brookes made clear that the backlash did not drive her decision to leave Sky Sports F1. Her account separates the noise around one highly charged exchange from the broader story of her career move. It also shows how much pressure can follow a single interview in modern Formula 1 coverage, especially when a title-contending driver and a rival are involved. Brookes did not present herself as a victim of that episode. She instead described it as something that was dealt with and closed before her exit. That left her free to focus on the next stage of her work and on the people in the paddock who reached out once her departure became public. Hamilton gave her a “massive hug,” she said, and Charles Leclerc gave her the “biggest hug” in Canada after he heard the news. Those reactions underlined the point Brookes kept returning to, that the paddock relationship was personal as well as professional.
F1 future
Brookes left no doubt that she expects to stay involved in Formula 1. She said her career is not over and hinted that more work in the sport remains ahead, even after stepping away from Sky Sports F1. That outlook gives her exit a clear shape. It is a change of role, not a farewell to the grid. Her recent appearance at Aston Martin’s “The Lawn” event at the British Grand Prix also fit that picture, since it showed her still active inside the F1 world and still connected to the teams and personalities that have defined her career. The combination of that event and her podcast comments paints a picture of a presenter who remains close to the sport and comfortable in the paddock environment. Brookes’ language around the goodbye was emotional but measured. She spoke about feeling overwhelmed by the response, yet she also kept returning to the same idea, that the people around Formula 1 made the experience special. The hugs, messages and farewell conversations all pointed to the same conclusion. Her exit may have marked the end of one chapter, but it did not end her ties to the championship or to the relationships she built there.
