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Adrian Newey was the flavor of the day on Tuesday when the ace engineer officially announced his immediate future to be associated with Aston Martin. There were, however, a few key nuggets that came out in the open as Newey was on a media tour of sorts and touched on some of the more interesting bits of information that he tended to not comment on.
While there are quite a few of his quotes that have gone viral, there's one thing that should probably be the most important. Newey specifically pointed out how Red Bull drivers/champions Max Verstappen currently and Sebastian Vettel in the past have been unfairly demonized by F1's primary global feed provider, Sky Sports.
The talk of 'British bias' in F1 is not new. In our publication, we've formerly touched on this and questioned if partisan media coverage is something that should be called out more often. However, something like this coming from arguably one of the most respected and senior members in the F1 paddock should be respected.
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More importantly, when Adrian Newey comes out and claims that the F1 media broadcast has been partisan, it has to ring alarm bells at FOM, and there should be an attempt to find a solution for this.
What did Adrian Newey say?
To begin with, first of all, let's take a look at what Adrian Newey said about the Sky Sports coverage. The ace designer was talking about how Max Verstappen was quite misunderstood, and one of the reasons behind that has been the manner in which not only him but formerly Sebastian Vettel as well have been unfairly demonized by the F1 broadcast.
Specifically pointing out Sky Sports, Newey said in an interview on the High Performance Podcast that even though the audience is global, the coverage can be very nationalistic. He said:
"I think from the outside I'm not sure people fully appreciate and understand Max just like they didn't with Sebastian. First of all, there's this sort of demonization both of them suffered at times. which I think is very unfair. And maybe that's also a little bit of the British media."
He added:
"This Sky (Sports) have a huge influence around the world. Their viewing figures, although their viewing is truly international but their coverage is quite nationalistic, that I say."
How true is it?
This brings us to the next point where we check the veracity of these claims. The F1 media having 'British bias' is a very common comment one can hear online from the fans. So, does this problem exist?
While the Sky Sports broadcast would go on a limb and say that such a thing doesn't exist, the reality, however, is different and it all came to a head in 2022 when Verstappen and Red Bull boycotted Sky Sports for the F1 Mexican GP race weekend.
There have been elements of the commentary that have been partisan and pro-British for a long time now.
Partisan media is nothing new
When we talk about partisan media coverage, it's not necessarily an attack on Sky Sports, it's just a reality of the regional broadcast. The Netherlands has Ziggo Sport and if we hear the English translation of the commentary or the general discourse from Dutch media, it is very pro-Max Verstappen. A similar situation can be found with other regional players like Sky Germany, Sky Italia, or, for that matter, Canal+ for the French.
All of these broadcasts and the discourse is more or less catered to a regional/national audience and hence it doesn't get called out as much, nor is it as powerful as the English version.
Why Sky Sports F1 gets called out more than others
Coming to the English broadcast of Sky Sports, the reason it gets called out is something that Adrian Newey himself pointed out in his comments. It's a nationalistic broadcast for a global audience.
While Ziggo Sport is more or less limited to Holland, Sky Germany or Italia are limited to their respective audiences, the British version is the primary global broadcast.
You cannot have a regional broadcast being used for a global audience and this misfit has meant that the British media has become much more powerful and the partisan nature has led to drivers like Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso getting demonized.
A possible solution
First of all, what we need to understand is that if Adrian Newey is willing to point something out, it's critical. There is a definite need for a solution here. The solution is something that F1 appears to have started work on when the F1TV project first took shape.
There is an alternative option that has slowly but steadily been created. FOM can have discussions with Sky Sports about the editorial direction they want to take and if the broadcaster is not willing to be a bit more neutral, action could be taken.
At the moment, Sky Sports is the global broadcast feed for different geographies and only in countries where there is F1TV do fans have an alternative.
If Sky Sports is not willing to make things a bit more equitable, then this could be the point where F1TV becomes the global feed while Sky Sports takes a backseat.
Adrian Newey openly calling out the partisan nature of F1 broadcasts is a poor look for the sport. If even at this stage the FOM is unwilling to take action, then this is something that would ultimately lead to even more fan backlash.
