Formula 1 presenter Rachel Brookes has spoken up about her sudden departure from the Sky Sports broadcasting team.
Rachel Brookes confirmed last month that she had left her role at Sky F1 with immediate effect after 17 years with the broadcaster. The announcement came as a shock to many people, but Brookes shared that she received support from Lewis Hamilton.
The 51-year-old journalist spoke publicly about her exit for the first time on the Essential F1 podcast after the Hungarian GP.
“It appeared very sudden, but it wasn’t; I had a chance to say goodbye to people in the paddock, to people I worked with, teams, drivers.
“I actually had a chance to say goodbye to Lewis; I had a lovely chat with Lewis. I got some time with Lewis to have a conversation.
“He was, as you would imagine, really, really lovely, very supportive. I won’t divulge everything that was said, but it was caught by some photographers.
“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.”
Brookes had support from the grid
She went on to detail the support and messages she received from other drivers on the grid after the announcement.
“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.
“I was standing 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.
“There were a few drivers I didn’t get to say goodbye to, just as it happened. I was at home the day after it had been announced and I got these little video messages from a couple of drivers as well, who said ‘we’re going to miss you’.
“It was really, really lovely. 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.”
Brookes shut down Verstappen speculation
Brookes had previously spoken out about online abuse she faced after interviewing Max Verstappen about his incident with George Russell at the 2025 Spanish GP. However, she shut down rumours that her Sky F1 exit was linked to the Red Bull driver.
“It had nothing to do with comments and abuse I got online last year at all. 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.”
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