David Croft says the Sky F1 team will miss Rachel Brookes after the presenter confirmed her departure on Wednesday.
Brookes announced ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix that she has departed Sky F1 after more than a decade with the broadcaster.
David Croft reacts to Rachel Brookes’ Sky F1 exit
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She went on to indicate that she will remain in the paddock in some capacity, revealing that she is planning to attend next month’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone despite parting ways with Sky.
In a post to social media, Brookes wrote: “After many years at Sky I am moving on to exciting new ventures and looking forward to what comes next.
“I have left the Sky F1 team but F1 still has my heart & so I’ll still be involved in it.
“I’ll keep you posted, in the meantime see you at Silverstone!”
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Brookes’ announcement has led to a number of well wishes on social media, with the presenter’s X post viewed more than 365,000 times and receiving 4,000 ‘likes’ at the time of writing.
On Instagram, meanwhile, Brookes’ statement has been ‘liked’ by almost 10,000 accounts.
Croft, who has served as Sky F1’s lead commentator since the broadcaster inherited the live television rights from the BBC in 2012, was among those to pay tribute to the presenter.
In response to Brookes’ Instagram post, Croft wrote: “Good luck for the future Rach, we’re gonna miss ya xxx”
Lead presenter Simon Lazenby added: “We will miss you Rach xxx”
Karun Chandhok, the former HRT and Lotus Racing driver who now works as a Sky F1 pundit, said: “Will miss you on tour Raquel.”
Kelly Piquet, the partner of Red Bull driver and four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen, added: “You’ve been amazing Rach! And will be very missed.”
Harry Benjamin, who has stepped in to the Sky F1 commentary booth when Croft misses a race, wrote: “Good luck Rach, see you in paddock soon.”
Mara Sangiorgio, the Sky F1 Italy reporter, said: “It was really a pleasure to work with you Rach. Good luck.”
As reported by PlanetF1.com, Brookes’ Sky F1 departure came just days after she opened up about the abuse she received following a tense interview with Verstappen at last year’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Brookes was forced to disable comments on her Instagram profile after fans took umbrage at her asking Verstappen if his controversial collision with Mercedes driver George Russell was deliberate.
PlanetF1.com has approached Sky about the nature of Brookes’ departure.
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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