Rachel Brookes left Sky Sports F1 in June with immediate effect, days before the Austrian Grand Prix and midway through a season. After 17 years at the broadcaster and 14 as part of its Formula 1 coverage, the timing looked abrupt enough that fans filled the gap with theories. Speaking publicly about it for the first time on the Essential F1 podcast after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Brookes took most of them apart.
The loudest theory tied her exit to the online abuse she received after interviewing Max Verstappen about his collision with George Russell at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix. She was blunt about it.
"It was nothing to do with comments and abuse I got online last year at all," Brookes said. "That was resolved very quickly, and I've got a great relationship with Max. So absolutely nothing to do with that. I know a lot of people thought that, and there were some articles written. Absolutely not the case at all."
Her account of the departure itself is that it only looked sudden from outside.
"It appeared very sudden, but it wasn't," she told the podcast. "I had a chance to say goodbye to people in the paddock, to people I worked with, teams, drivers."
That included Lewis Hamilton, and the moment was photographed. Brookes has since posted the images to her own TikTok account, captioned "Telling Lewis I was leaving Sky after 14 years of interviewing him" - and the detail in the pictures backs up her timeline, because the paddock is Shanghai and Hamilton is wearing the special-edition Ferrari hoodie the team released for the Chinese Grand Prix. That is months before the June announcement.
"I won't divulge everything that was said but it was caught by some photographers," Brookes said. "There's a lovely photo at the end of it where he gives me a massive hug and he says 'I hope I see you back in the paddock soon', which was really lovely."
"In Canada, I was finishing media in the TV interview pen and Charles Leclerc had just finished his interviews and was just walking back out," she recalled. "I was stood by my camera and he just gave me the biggest hug. Didn't say a word just gave me the biggest hug. So obviously someone had told him and I just said 'thank you' and he left."
Sky's own line has stayed consistent and brief. A spokesperson told PlanetF1.com: "Rachel has moved on from the Sky Sports F1 team to take on new challenges as we evolve our coverage. Rachel has been an asset for the team and we wish her well in her new endeavours."
Brookes was careful to defend the succession too, pointing at Craig Slater. "It looked sudden. It's not. Craig was ready to step up," she said. "He stepped up for me when I was ill in Baku, when I had my appendicitis, and when I've taken races off in the past. So there's a smooth transition, and he'll do a fantastic job. I had 14-and-a-half years doing the best job in the world."
Then came the part that generated most of the headlines. Freed from a broadcaster's caution, Brookes offered a flat prediction on Verstappen's future - and it does not involve Red Bull.
"I still think Max is looking for an exit," she said, "because I feel like yes, he's showing us all what he can do right now, and we're all impressed and we're like Max is amazing, because he is, but he wants to be winning again. He doesn't want to have to show that he can get a car that should be 10th up to second."
She linked it directly to the staff drain at Milton Keynes, naming engineer Michael Manning as the most recent departure. "I still feel that he's looking around, going, 'I've done my time. I've given you everything I possibly can, and now I want to go somewhere I can win again.'"
Her destination of choice is Mercedes, alongside championship leader Kimi Antonelli. "It's just in my head still. Toto missed out on him before. I think that still bugs him. I think he would feel like that was a massive coup to get him from Red Bull now."
The paddock evidence points the other way for now. Toto Wolff has repeatedly said he is happy with Antonelli and Russell, Zak Brown has shut the door at McLaren in the short term, and Red Bull principal Laurent Mekies has said Verstappen "has made clear to us that he wants to continue with the team," adding the obvious caveat that "he needs a fast car for him to be happy with the team." Brookes, notably, is unmoved by all of it: "I still see it happening."
She has not left the sport either. Brookes hosted Aston Martin's 'The Lawn' event at Silverstone in July, and says her verdict on the paddock hasn't changed. "The paddock is a family. It's an amazing place. I kind of didn't think anyone would notice, but the teams and the drivers, it is one big family and it is amazing. I was quite overwhelmed by the response from everybody."
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*Originally published on [Formula 1 News](https://newsformula.one/article/rachel-brookes-breaks-silence-hamiltons-hug-and-a-verstappen-verdict). Visit for full coverage.*