Former Sky Sports activities Formulation 1 presenter Rachel Brookes has opened up about her exit from the broadcaster, revealing the emotional and supportive reactions she acquired from Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Brookes stepped away from her position forward of June’s Austrian Grand Prix, concluding a extremely revered 14-year tenure within the paddock. Whereas the announcement caught followers off guard as a result of it got here in the midst of a season, Brookes has clarified that the transfer was something however abrupt behind the scenes.
Throughout an look on the Important F1 podcast, Brookes defined that she was capable of bid farewell to the paddock on her personal phrases. “It appeared very sudden, however it wasn’t,” she revealed. “I had an opportunity to say goodbye to folks within the paddock, to folks I’ve labored with, groups and drivers.”
Some of the touching moments got here from seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. The Briton, who has been having fun with a resurgent 2026 marketing campaign with Ferrari and at the moment sits second within the drivers’ standings, made certain to share a personal second with the pundit.
“I truly had an opportunity to say goodbye to Lewis,” Brookes added. “I had a stunning chat with Lewis and obtained a while with him to have a dialog. He was, as you’ll think about, actually, actually beautiful, very supportive. I gained’t expose every little thing that was stated, however it was caught by some photographers. There’s a stunning picture on the finish of it the place he provides me an enormous hug, and he says, ‘I hope I see you again within the paddock quickly.'”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photograph by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Photographs through Getty Photographs
Through the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc additionally made his emotions recognized. “Charles had simply completed his written interviews and was simply strolling again out,” Brookes recalled. “I used to be simply stood by my digicam, and he got here up and simply gave me the most important hug. Didn’t say a phrase, simply gave me the most important hug. So clearly somebody had advised him, and I simply stated thanks and he left.”
Brookes famous that different drivers who missed her in individual despatched touching video messages to her, reinforcing her perception that the F1 paddock operates as “one massive household”.
She additionally took the chance to debunk on-line rumours suggesting her exit was linked to the social media backlash following an interview with Max Verstappen final 12 months, stating that the difficulty was “resolved in a short time” and that she maintains a terrific relationship with the four-time champion.
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