Max Verstappen and Red Bull are avoiding interviews with Sky Sports this weekend over comments made by one of their reporters regarding his 2021 title success.
The Formula 1 circus has remained in North America this weekend for the Mexican Grand Prix. And as the official broadcaster in the UK, Sky always has plenty of access when it comes to grabbing interviews with drivers and team bosses.
But this weekend it seems they won't be speaking with the champion. Mirror Sport understands the team, including Verstappen, team-mate Sergio Perez and team principal Christian Horner, have chosen to avoid speaking to the broadcaster over comments made by pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz, which appear to have not gone down too well with the Red Bull racer.
Speaking after last weekend's United States Grand Prix, which was won by Verstappen after overtaking Lewis Hamilton in the later stages of the race, Kravitz made comments about the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – won by the Dutchman in controversial circumstances – and suggested it was his car which made all the difference.
"[Hamilton] doesn't win a race all year, and then finally comes back at a track where he could win the first race all year, battling the same guy who won the race he was robbed in the previous year, and manages to finish ahead of him," he said. "What a script and a story that would have been. But that's not the way the script turned out today, was it?
"Because the guy that beat him [Verstappen] after being robbed actually overtook him, because he's got a quicker car, because of engineering and Formula 1 and design, and pretty much because of [Adrian Newey, Red Bull's Chief Technical Officer] over there."
That came after, earlier in that same race weekend, Kravitz told Verstappen that he appeared incapable of winning titles "in a normal way". As a result, Red Bull will not be speaking to Sky Sports UK or its German and Italian affiliates in Mexico this weekend, and the boycott could last longer than that.
Off-track issues do not appear to have distracted the Red Bull racer, though. Despite Mercedes looking fast throughout practice and qualifying, he went fastest in Q3 to put himself on pole position for the race.
He will be wary, though, that the first grid slot isn't necessarily the best place to be on this track. The long run up to the first corner will give Hamilton and George Russell behind him the chance to fight for the lead early, while none of the last four pole-sitters in Mexico City have finished on the podium.
