Sky F1 reporter takes action to stop hate campaign after Max Verstappen interview

Sky F1 reporter Rachel Brookes has disabled comments on her social media accounts after receiving “vile abuse” after the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Barcelona race saw Max Verstappen come together with George Russell towards the end of the race, resulting in a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points on his super licence.

Amid speculation at the time that the collision was deliberate, Brookes suggested in an interview with Verstappen that it could “take some shine” off his other abilities.

Verstappen responded: “Well, that’s your opinion.”

The exchange with Verstappen came just one week after having a brief interview with Lewis Hamilton, who had few words to offer after a difficult race.

It was later revealed that Hamilton apologised to Brookes off-camera for his uninspired answers.

Taking to social media during the Canadian GP weekend, Brookes highlighted she was taking action after noticing an uptick in abuse being sent her way. 

“I will be posting on here as usual but comments/tags/mentions on here [Instagram] and on X have been disabled for the foreseeable future due to the enormous amounts of vile abuse I was sent after the Spanish GP,” she wrote.

“I may switch them back on at a later date but for now they will stay off.”