Unexpected apology from Sky Sports F1 host to Max Verstappen shocks fans following a heated moment during the Austrian Grand Prix — what really happened behind the scenes?
Sky F1 reporter Craig Slater issued an apology to reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen during a conversation over his championship hopes last weekend.
Red Bull’s star driver was ruled out of the Austrian Grand Prix on the first lap around the Red Bull Ring after Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli crashed into the side of his RB21.
Both Verstappen and Antonelli could not continue the 70-lap event, but it is the Dutchman who is fighting to retain his drivers’ title, not the 18-year-old Mercedes star.
After retiring from last Sunday’s race, Verstappen is now 46 points behind Lando Norris and 61 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.
As his chance of earning a record-equalling fifth consecutive championship in the sport continues to slip away, the 27-year-old is getting understandably frustrated when asked about his championship chances.
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Following his DNF in Spielberg, Verstappen was interviewed in the media pen, but the interaction ended in an apology from Sky F1 reporter Slater as the pair discussed his DNF.
Verstappen began the interview on a positive note, excusing Antonelli for the collision and looking ahead to Silverstone.
“I get along very well with Kimi [Antonelli] and no one does these things on purpose,” he said. “It’s just unlucky, like yesterday in qualifying, but overall we didn’t really have great pace anyway this weekend so a lot of learnings for us how we can hopefully do better next weekend.”
Slater then followed up by referring to the fact that the Dutchman had said the championship was not something they should talk about, especially after the DNF and the points lost as a result.
“Yeah hopefully then people won’t mention it too much anymore,” Verstappen replied, which triggered a quick response from Slater, who simply said: “Sorry Max.”
Despite the tense moment, Red Bull’s star driver recovered well from the interview given his past fiery responses to Sky, instead laughing this moment off and telling Slater not to worry over his line of questioning.
