Ted Kravitz has recalled a conversation with Max Verstappen following Red Bull’s boycott of Sky Sports during the closing stages of the 2022 F1 season.
Red Bull refused to conduct any interviews with Sky Sports at the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix.
This came after comments made by Kravitz in relation to Verstappen’s 2021 F1 title win over Lewis Hamilton.
Kravitz had referenced Hamilton being “robbed” of the title.
Hamilton lost the 2021 F1 championship due to “human error”, with then-race director Michael Masi entirely to blame.
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Verstappen was unhappy with the comments and refused to speak to Sky during the Mexico weekend.
Christian Horner also felt Sky had not been fair towards Verstappen or Red Bull.
“There were some derogatory comments made so we took a break from Sky for this race,” Horner said.
“Max was upset. We were upset and we made the decision to stand together as a team. It won’t have done Sky any harm for us to lay down a marker.
“Some of the commentary is fair but some pieces are sensationalist, and saying we robbed anyone of the championship, as was said in Austin, is going too far.
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“It is not impartial or fair or balanced.”
Kravitz on Verstappen chat
Red Bull have since had no problems with Sky or their coverage.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull
© XPB Images
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Kravitz detailed a conversation he had with Verstappen about the boycott.
Kravitz explained that while Verstappen himself wasn’t particularly bothered, he was unhappy with the hate directed at his family, particularly his girlfriend, Kelly Piquet.
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Kravitz said: “Max referred to this stuff on social media, and he says: ‘Look, I don’t care. People say terrible things about me all the time. I’m doing my job and you’re doing your job. It’s not us that care, it’s the people around me that care.’
“‘So then if you say or people misinterpret that you say that you think I stole a championship off Lewis – even if you didn’t say that, people think that’s what you said. You’re a voice in Formula 1, and then my mum on social media gets abuse or my sister, or Kelly, my partner. It’s them I’m looking to protect.’
“I said, ‘Max, I absolutely get it, and it’s horrible and regretful and I’m sorry that it gets to these points. But these things get clipped up, it all gets blown up out [of proportion] and then we get to this point’. So then we understood each other completely.”
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