Popular Sky F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham is to make her long-awaited return at this weekend\u2019s Japanese Grand Prix following major surgery last year.<\/p>\n
It comes after the television star told PlanetF1.com of her \u201cagony\u201d after suffering a slipped disc in her neck, leaving her on the sidelines for six months.<\/p>\n
Natalie Pinkham returns to Sky F1 duty at Japanese Grand Prix<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Pinkham has been a fixture of Sky F1\u2019s coverage since the broadcaster secured the live Formula 1 broadcast rights ahead of the 2012 season.<\/p>\n The 48-year-old has not attended a race since fronting Sky F1\u2019s coverage of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on September 7 last year, with Pinkham undergoing surgery later that month.<\/p>\n She was forced to abandon her original plan to return<\/a> at the Brazilian Grand Prix last November, with regular presenter Simon Lazenby flown in to Sao Paulo at late notice to cover for Pinkham.<\/p>\n Ranked: Martin Brundle and Jacques Villeneuve among best Sky F1 pundits<\/p>\n Ranking the best pundits in F1: Brundle, Rosberg, Hill and more all rated<\/a><\/p>\n Jacques Villeneuve\u2019s bold and savage quotes: Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton targeted<\/a><\/p>\n Pinkham revealed earlier this month that she has been given the \u201call clear\u201d by medics<\/a> to take long-haul flights, confirming she will return to action at this weekend\u2019s Japanese Grand Prix.<\/p>\n In a recent interview with PlanetF1.com<\/a>, Pinkham lifted the lid on what she described as the \u201cgross\u201d details of her surgery, revealing that her voice box was briefly removed during the procedure.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI hadn\u2019t stopped for 15 years. Even having kids, I was back after six weeks. These last five months, it\u2019s been a useful process for me.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was agony. A disc in my neck slipped. It was pressing not only against the nerves down my left arm but also my spinal cord.<\/p>\n \u201cThe doctors said: \u2018You have to have that out. Now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey went in at the front, took the voice box out and moved the trachea and oesophagus.<\/p>\n \u201cThen they took the disc out, fused the vertebrae together, put a little cage in to prop the neck back up and put me back together again.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they told me what they were going to do I was like: \u2018Not a chance.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThey were like: \u201cHmm, you don\u2019t really have a choice.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Pinkham, who posted a clip to social media of her travelling to Japan with Sky F1 commentator David Croft on Tuesday, went on to reveal that she is \u201cslightly nervous\u201d about her return from a physical perspective.<\/p>\n Speaking ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, she said: \u201cI\u2019ve got a couple more weeks to get as strong as possible before getting on a long haul, which I haven\u2019t done yet.<\/p>\n \u201cI am slightly nervous from my own physical health point of view, but really excited as well.<\/p>\n \u201cEver since 2020, when we all had to pull together in COVID, F1 has really felt like a community, a family. I\u2019ve missed it.\u201d<\/p>\n Pinkham says she was touched by the support she received from those inside the paddock during her extended absence.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cI got amazing support from within the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do sort of think: \u2018Oh, God, it\u2019s rolling on without me.\u2019 But it\u2019s not like that. Everybody gathers you up and looks after you and care about you.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that is because everybody recognises we all make sacrifices to be involved in the sport. You leave your family and kids and home life.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not as glamorous as it looks, so there\u2019s a sense of community for sure.<\/p>\n \u201cLoads of people say: \u2018Oh, aren\u2019t they all so arrogant?\u2019 They\u2019re not.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re actually incredibly modest and down to earth. People think it\u2019s an individual sport but in reality it\u2019s the ultimate team sport.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone has to pull together if you want the perfect result because just fractions of seconds separate everyone on the grid.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to bring your A game every week. It\u2019s a huge amount of pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Alex Spink<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n