Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen said his boycott with Sky F1 is over, he and his entire Red Bull team – including Christian Horner – boycotted the broadcaster during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend a fortnight ago.
Their unprecedented stance came a week after Sky F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz said Lewis Hamilton was last year “robbed” of an eighth world championship.
In Mexico City, Verstappen accused Sky Sports of being “disrespectful” and “living in the past” but following discussions between both parties ahead of this weekend’s penultimate round of the season in Brazil, Verstappen confirmed both his and Red Bull’s silence will end.
Speaking in Interlagos on Thursday, Verstappen, 25, said: “We drew a line under it. We keep on going, and I am looking forward to it.”
Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit plays host to F1’s third and final sprint round of the campaign, with first practice taking place on Friday.
Qualifying, which determines the grid for Saturday’s sprint race, follows. The finishing positions of Saturday’s dash sets the starting places for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Max is not a fan of F1 Sprint Races despite winning the majority of them
F1 bosses are doubling the Sprint Race format from three rounds to six next season – the venues for which will be announced in the coming weeks.
They are also weighing up whether to make it a standalone event, rather than linked to Sunday’s main, in the hope of creating more action, but Verstappen repeated what he said before about Sprints: “I’m just not a big fan of it, because I feel like we don’t really race.
“You know that you can’t really risk it because the main race is where you get the points. You don’t do a pit stop so you just put on the tyre that will last the distance. You don’t really see a lot of overtaking unless there is a car out of position. It is really not that fun for me,” insisted the Dutch ace.
Last time out, Verstappen claimed his 14th win of the season to move ahead of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, and stand on his own as the driver with the most victories in a single campaign.