Sky F1 star reveals 'horrific' hate over Max Verstappen question

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Sky F1 star opens up about 'horrific' hate she received for Max Verstappen question

Rachel Brookes received 'horrific' abuse

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 18 June 2026 18:57 Updated: 19:51

A star of the Sky Sports F1 team has opened up about the shocking amount of hate she received on social media for pursuing a tough line of questioning with Max Verstappen.

The 2025 campaign saw the four-time champion take up the role of an underdog for the first time since he infamously clinched his maiden title at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri the title favourites throughout the year.

But it was Verstappen's on-track battle with George Russell at the 2025 Spanish GP that triggered controversy when 2016 champion and Sky F1 pundit Nico Rosberg suggested the Red Bull star had collided with the Mercedes driver on purpose.

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Following the collision between rivals, Sky F1 presenter Rachel Brookes made the bold decision to ask Verstappen outright whether the move on Russell was intentional or not.

Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty as a result of the move so naturally Brookes felt she was well within her right to question the Dutchman over the incident (it is, after all, her job to do so). But the brutal F1 fans on social media slammed Brookes for her line of questioning with the presenter eventually turning off her social media comments as a result.

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In an appearance on the Road to Success podcast, Brookes touched on her thoughts regarding Verstappen, reflecting on the infamous interaction with the Dutchman in the Spanish media pen.

"I mean, last year, for example, at the end of the year, I loved the way people were cheering Max on as the underdog," she began.

"People were saying, 'I never thought I’d be cheering for Max Verstappen in a race.' That was fascinating for me to see that happening, because the thing with Max is that he’s so honest. I’ve never had an issue with Max. I have so much respect for him."

When that claim was questioned by podcast host Benedict Fowler, Brookes replied: "This is what people get wrong." Fowler then asked: "So you wouldn’t call it an issue?"

"No, not in a million years," Brookes replied.

Sky Sports F1 presenter Rachel Brookes maintains she has no issue with Max Verstappen

The Sky Sports F1 star then provided context to the conversation, explaining: "In Spain last year, Max had contact with George Russell. They’d had a coming together on the straight, or something Max was upset about. It was a frustrating race for him, and there was contact with George.

"Nico Rosberg was on our programme that weekend and had implied he thought it was deliberate. This is what our pundits were saying. Nico, as a Formula 1 driver and a world champion, said it looked deliberate.

"So I’m in the pen, and there is no one better than a Formula 1 world champion to tell me what could have happened in that moment. I’m not making a summary myself here, I’m literally relaying what our world champion on the team thinks.

"So I said to Max: 'Was it deliberate?' And his response was: 'Does it matter?' I said to him: 'Well, I think it does.'

"In that moment, I’m a fan watching at home. The reason I said that was because in Imola, just before, he had pulled off that incredible move at the start of the race. He had our commentators and our pundits open-mouthed at how fantastic his move was at the start of the race.

"That is what Max does, and what Max can do. So, to me, when he did what he did with George, it took some of the shine off. Which is what I said to him.

"And I hate that, because he’s incredible. He has those little moments that give people cause to criticise him, and it really frustrated me as a fan that it had happened.

"Then he said: 'Does it matter?' And I said: 'Yeah, I think it does to the fans watching and to the kids.'

"Now, he took that as me saying he is a role model and he shouldn’t do it, which he’s completely entitled to take it that way. But I genuinely was coming at it from a fan’s point of view.

"It’s so hard, because I want people to see how good you are, and you make it difficult when you do stuff like that. That’s where I was coming from."

Brookes reveals extent of online hate over Verstappen interview

This was the message Rachel Brookes posted for fans in 2025 via her Instagram

In the weeks that followed, Brookes was victim to a surge of vicious hate messages on social media, which she herself described at the time as 'vile abuse' as a result of her interaction with Verstappen in the media pen.

Touching on that experience, Brookes said: "The interesting part of that was that I got a lot of messages from people in broadcasting, in sports broadcasting saying, 'Well done for asking the question.' Because nobody else in that pen that day asked him that question.

"Even my colleagues said they wouldn’t have asked that question because they would have been too scared to ask it. Colleagues who do that pen admitted they wouldn’t have asked it.

"I didn’t feel particularly brave. I just came at it from an inquisitive nature: did you mean to do that?

"But then the fans, and the social media side of it, was horrendous. I got people telling me I should never be allowed to have children because I’m a bad example. I got the most horrific stuff you could imagine.

"A lot of it came from profiles of dads with kids, with daughters and things like that, where you just look at it and think: take a step back. It’s a race. It’s a Formula 1 race. It’s sport.

"But the stuff I got sent was horrendous. Absolutely horrendous. So I just closed my comments."

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Max Verstappen Sky Sports F1 Rachel Brookes