Verstappen: Sky F1 boycott fueled by 'constant' disrespect

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Max Verstappen says a "constant and disrespectful" attitude displayed towards him by Sky F1 and "one person in particular" led to his boycott of the broadcaster this weekend in Mexico City.

Verstappen snubbed Sky's crews following comments made after the US Grand Prix by Sky F1 pundit Ted Kravitz who, on multiple occasions, used the word "robbed" to characterize Lewis Hamilton's controversial title defeat to Verstappen in Abu Dhabi last year.

All weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Verstappen and the Red Bull team gave Sky and its Italian and German affiliates the cold shoulder.

The two-time F1 World Champion opened up on the reasons for the cut off.

"It had nothing to do this weekend," said Sunday's winner.

"But this year it's been a constant… yeah, kind of like daily being disrespectful, especially one particular person. And it's enough, I don't accept it.

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"You can't live in the past. You just have to move on. Social media is a very toxic place, and if you are constantly being like that live on TV, you make it only worse instead of trying to make it better.

"You keep disrespecting me, and at one point, I'm not tolerating it anymore. That's why I decided to stop answering them."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner echoed his driver's view, insisting his team was "disappointed with a series of derogatory comments that have been made on Sky", which led to the decision to "take a break" this weekend.

"There needs to be balance in commentary," explained Horner. "Some of the commentary is excellent, but some of the pieces, there's too much sensationalisation being done. We stand together as a team."

While Red Bull acted to "to register our discontent with some of the less impartial comments that are made or some of the accusations that are sometimes made", Horner said that "service will be resumed" next week in Brazil.

"I think an accusation of championships being robbed is something that we don't feel is an impartial commentary," said Horner. "That is, we don't feel, in any way fair or balanced.

"Max was very upset about it, and as a team, we support him fully. We were equally upset about it. As a team, we took the decision this weekend, I took the decision that we'll have a weekend off."

Horner said that he believes Red Bull "are a cheap target sometimes".

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.