Rachel Brookes is calling it quits from Sky Sports.
The longtime F1 reporter is leaving Sky just days before the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg after spending 14 years with the network, she wrote on X on Wednesday.
While the exact reason for her departure is unclear, it comes just days after she revealed she faced “horrific abuse” online following an interview with racer Max Verstappen last year.
Brookes talked to Verstappen after he collided with Mercedes star George Russell at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix. Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty for the collision and admitted he “made a mistake.”
The reporter proceeded to ask Verstappen if he made contact with Russell on purpose after a broadcaster thought it may have been deliberate, but the racer dodged the question and asked if it truly mattered.
Brookes told the “Road to Success” podcast that people in the broadcasting industry sent her messages praising her for asking the question because many others would be too scared to ask it.
But fans had the opposite reaction to Brookes’ question.
“But then the fans, the social media side of it, was horrendous,” Brookes said. “I got people telling me I should never be able to have children because I’m a bad example. I got the most horrific stuff you could imagine.”
“And this is from a lot of these profiles with dads with kids with daughters and things like that, where you just look at it and think: ‘Take a step back. It’s a Formula 1 race. It’s a sport.’”
Brookes joined Sky in 2009 before her role in F1 media expanded when Sky acquired broadcast rights for the United Kingdom in 2012.
She became well known for interviewing drivers in the media pen and traveling to various Grand Prix events.
Brookes is leaving Sky but staying in the realm of F1 and will be present at next week’s British Grand Prix.
“After many years at Sky I am moving on to exciting new ventures and looking forward to what comes next,” she wrote on X.
“I have left the Sky F1 team but F1 still has my heart & so I’ll still be involved in it. I’ll keep you posted, in the meantime see you at Silverstone!”
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