Sky F1 refuse to broadcast 'graphic' footage at Austrian Grand Prix

Austrian Grand Prix

Sky F1 refuse to broadcast 'graphic' footage at Austrian Grand Prix

Haas' rookie driver suffered a misjudgement

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 27 June 2026 20:39 Updated: 09:53

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Sky Sports F1 revealed during their Austrian Grand Prix broadcast on Saturday that they would not be showing 'graphic' footage involving a Haas mechanic.

During Friday practice at the Red Bull Ring, Haas rookie driver Ryo Hirakawa took part in FP1, as the team look to fill their rookie driver quota for the season.

Hirakawa stepped in for Esteban Ocon in Austria, but suffered an unfortunate incident when he came into the pits towards the end of the session.

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The Japanese racer struggled to stop in his pit box, and lightly crashed into one of his team's mechanics. The mechanic thankfully got straight back up to his feet and was ok, but it was a scary incident which led to other mechanics coming to check on him.

It was very light contact from Hirakawa's car into the mechanic, and he stumbled before finding his feet once more.

But despite the light nature of the contact, Sky Sports F1 refused to show the full footage, claiming that it was too 'graphic' to show viewers.

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Sky Sports F1 opt not to show 'graphic' footage

The Sky Sports F1 team spoke about the incident live on air on Saturday, and Natalie Pinkham started taking viewers through the footage, before it was paused at the crucial moment.

“There was an incident in the pitlane yesterday (Friday), with Ryo Hirakawa who was sitting in for Esteban Ocon,” Pinkham said live on Sky Sports F1.

“We’ve paused it here (the moment Hirakawa’s front wing makes contact with the mechanic) as when we run it at full speed - it is kind of graphic.

“But we’re delighted and relieved to say that the mechanic was totally okay.”

Hirakawa himself revealed what had caused the misjudgement, admitting that he struggled to get to grips with the car.

“You know I’m very new to the car,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I thought I pressed the neutral button but I pressed the wrong button so the car went into anti-stall.

“The car just couldn’t stop. I just went to the guy after that and he was fine so that’s the most important thing.”