Source:REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
[Saba Sports News] F1 designer Adrian Newey criticized Sky Sports’ “nationalistic” F1 coverage on the High Performance podcast, pointing out that such reporting has led to Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen being “demonized,” which has affected people’s perceptions of them and is very unfair. Newey believes that Sky Sports has a significant global influence; their viewership is indeed international, but their reporting carries a nationalistic tone because Red Bull is not a British team. Newey expressed that after watching Sky Sports’ coverage, it almost feels like Verstappen can drive the car automatically, as if he always manages to set the fastest lap time and winning becomes an implicit expectation. Whenever Verstappen does not win, he faces criticism from public opinion led by Sky Sports. In response, some fans remarked that Sky Sports has always excelled at using exaggerated commentary to describe drivers’ performances and often likes to create news out of nothing to attract public attention.