F1 presenter addresses allegations of 'British Bias' from Sky Sports during broadcast

F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham defended Sky Sports against allegations of British bias during race broadcasts. Multiple F1 personnel have criticized the broadcaster for its British-centric coverage, which favors drivers from the same country and criticizes drivers from other nationalities.

Over the years, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has been vocal about the biases in the British media as he felt he was targetted by them during race weekends. Even the FIA President Muhammed Ben Sulayem has echoed similar experiences as the Dutchman.

While appearing on the Red Flag Podcast, Pinkham, who has been working for the broadcaster for over a decade, defended his colleagues but accepted that the coverage was more British-focused as they made for compelling storylines. She said:

"Look you know you talk about the Britishness of Sky, we go out to 60 different countries. We're acutely aware I mean I know much has been said about whether there is a bias. Will we lean into the British stories? Well yes, we will.

"Because we know that's what a lot of our viewers want to see and hear but I really think our punditry team are very fair, they're very balanced. I always feel that I want to step up and defend them in that because I'm there for every minute of our coverage and I think they do a great job." (11:00)

Natalie Pinkham's colleagues at Sky Sports have echoed similar sentiments and rubbished off the allegations of "British bias".

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Former F1 driver gives his take on British bias in the media

Former F1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok stated that he found the discussion of media having a British bias "weird" as he reiterated that their job was to be objective during the coverage.

In his interview with GPBlog, the former Caterham driver who raced in the sport in the 2010s, reflected on the subject and said:

"It’s weird right - people are sometimes so in love with their favourite driver that objectivity goes out the window. I understand their passion - but it’s our job to be objective.

"And in the end, I don't care. I really don't pay attention to the comments because it can consume you if you do. And most importantly - I know in my conscious that I'm not biased."

Sky Sports also has branches in other countries like Sky Italia and Sky Germany which broadcast in their native languages. The British broadcaster initially got involved in F1 in 2011 when they got the rights to broadcast the sport from BBC, who had the contract to broadcast all races from 2009 to 2013.

Sky Sports launched its F1 channel in March 2012 when they broadcasted every session of the race weekends.