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Max Verstappen recently explained his decision to boycott Sky Sports F1 after the outlet's commentator Ted Kravitz made statements regarding the Dutchman. Notably, Kravitz used terms like "robbed," which left Verstappen upset and disappointed.
While speaking at a press conference after the 2022 F1 Mexican Grand Prix, Max Verstappen shed light on his stand. The driver claimed that some people particularly took a dig at him throughout 2022, saying:
"It had nothing to do with this weekend. But this year, it's been a constant… kind of like digging, being disrespectful, especially one particular person. And at one point it's enough you know? I don't accept it. You can't live in the past, you just have to move on. At the moment, social media is a very toxic place. And if you are constantly being like that, live on TV, you make it only worse instead of trying to make it better in the world. You keep being… You keep disrespecting me, and at one point I'm not tolerating it anymore, so that's why I decided to stop answering."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner also criticized Sky F1's reporting across all of its affiliations. The Briton backed Max Verstappen's stance and suggested that the commentary was partial, saying:
"I think an accusation of championships being robbed is something that we don't feel is an impartial commentary. That is, we don't feel, in any way fair or balanced. Max was very upset about it, and as a team, we support him fully. We were equally upset about it. As a team, we took the decision this weekend, I took the decision that we'll have a weekend off."
Kravitz, while speaking in his Ted's Notebook segment after the 2022 F1 United States GP, openly claimed twice that Lewis Hamilton was "robbed" of the 2021 title. Red Bull and Co. then decided to take a break from giving any interviews to Sky F1.
Former driver hails Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's fight at the 2022 F1 US GP
Former F1 driver David Coulthard reminisced about 2021's title fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton as the two went wheel-to-wheel in the US last weekend. Coulthard was impressed by both the world champions and termed the moment as 'great'.
While speaking to Channel 4, the former driver expressed his happiness over witnessing the last five laps of the race, saying:
"It looked like all of the Mercedes supporters, the Lewis Hamilton supporters, they were dreaming, he'd done a faultless race. But the Verstappen factor came into play again. An uncharacteristic slow pit stop that will be reviewed and understood, and then Max makes the difference. He was able to utilise the speed of his car, but then go wheel-to-wheel again with Lewis. How great was it to see these two wonderful drivers battling the corners and Lewis typically not giving up when he got past into the end of the backstraight."
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have not been involved in many wheel-to-wheel battles this season, unlike last year. It has only been the last few races where a fight between the two seems to be reigniting.
Beyond a doubt, next year's title challenge will be a thriller if Mercedes comes back into title contention.
