Hill addresses Sky Sports F1 exit and future plans: 'There has to be eye candy'

Damon Hill has explained why his time with Sky Sports came to a close at the end of the 2024 F1 season, citing the "younger, fresher names" at the broadcaster's disposal.

The 1996 F1 drivers' champion has said he completely understands why the company, which produces the United Kingdom's coverage of the championship, opted not to retain him.

Towards the back-end of the campaign, Hill drew criticism for opinions he gave on Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull driver's camp unhappy with what it perceived to be bias coming from some British commentators and pundits.

It is something the 22-time grand prix winner, who has since further elaborated on his views of the Dutchman and the Milton Keynes team, hopes did not factor into Sky's decision to let him go.

"I would like to think not," Hill told The Telegraph. "I hope not. I think I felt like the end was coming anyway, because I was kind of pushed back all last year. I was doing the less attractive races.

"And they’ve got younger, fresher names. They’ve got Jenson [Button], they’ve got Nico [Rosberg]. And that’s fair enough. I completely get it. They’re closer to the front line than I am. And it’s TV. There’s got to be a bit of eye-candy factor to it."

In Hill's words, he never quite reached a point where he could fully share his thoughts on Sky Sports F1, given the constraints placed upon broadcasters.

"I always felt like I had a kind of ill-fitting suit on when I was with Sky," he said. "I didn’t feel I got to a place where I could express everything I wanted to... because there isn’t the time.

"I mean, they’re brilliant at it. But there are much better people than me at it. I only did it as a temporary job and I ended up doing it for 12, 13 years!"

Future plans in F1

However, Hill is not ready to retire, so has lined up work for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

"No I’m not ready for that," he replied when asked about the prospect of hanging up his microphone. "I need to work.

"I’ve got some offers [for the future]. So I’m doing Network 10 [the Australian broadcaster] at the season opener in Melbourne.

"But I don’t really want to traipse around the world just standing around in the paddock. It’s got to be something that uses your bonce, you know? I can’t just stand there and wait for a question to be asked. It doesn’t do it for me."