Sky Sports have been accused of having a bias against Red Bull for over a decade now.
The broadcasting giants were accused of making some bitter comments when Sebastian Vettel won the world championship all those years ago, crediting Newey for giving Vettel the best car rather than the driver himself, and it has now been highlighted that Max Verstappen is receiving a similar treatment.
Ted Kravitz made some controversial statements during his ‘Ted’s Notebook’ section of Sky Sports weekend coverage in Austin, with the pundit willing on Lewis Hamilton to beat Verstappen because the Dutchman ‘robbed him’ of the 2021 title.
Verstappen said that enough is enough and called a boycott against Sky Sports interviews in Mexico, and was joined by the rest of his team shortly after his announcement.
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Since then it has been reported that Sky Sports have sent their Formula 1 director Billy McGinty to the Red Bull factory in an attempt to make amends with the team from Milton Keynes, smoothing over any longstanding issues that may still be lingering.
It is also expected that Kravitz himself will look to sit down with Verstappen and his boss Christian Horner to try and clear the air ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend, with Horner confirming that the team will partake in interviews following the one-off race boycott.
While it seems that Sky Sports just want to end the drama and mend their relationship with one of the biggest teams in the sport, social media has heavily criticised the broadcasting giants for apologising, suggesting that this makes them seem weak.
F1 blogger Rob Myers took to Twitter to share his views, calling Sky’s apology plans pathetic.
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“Quite frankly, it’s pathetic that #SkyF1 are pandering to RBR. The media are allowed to have opinions, whether Whinger and Max like them or not. Really hope that any ‘clearing of the air’ doesn’t include muzzling honest people like @tedkravitz #F1.”
By referring to Horner as a whinger, Twitter users are suggesting that it is more a case of Red Bull disagreeing with Kravitz’s comments, rather than him actually doing anything wrong, after all, everyone is entitled to share their opinion.
With Red Bull having just been found guilty and punished for a breach of the 2021 cost cap, some fans believe that the Sky Sports boycott is simply just a way of taking the negative spotlight off themselves, by aiming it at someone else.