Martin Brundle has posted a classy message on social media for Rachel Brookes after she revealed she is leaving Sky Sports with immediate effect. Brookes, a popular member of the broadcaster's Formula 1 coverage for 14 years, will not be part of the team at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.
Brookes Announces Departure, Remains in F1
Taking to social media, Brookes confirmed she will stay within the world of F1, saying: "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."
Brundle's Classy Response
The departing Brookes received a goodbye message from Brundle, who replied: "Good luck Rach. It’s been a pleasure to work alongside you on Sky F1. Your professionalism shines through." In response, Brookes said: "Thankyou MB. An absolute pleasure to work with you too. Hope our paths cross again."
Brookes' Career and Future Plans
Brookes had been a regular on Sky's coverage of Grand Prix weekends since they acquired the rights from the BBC in 2012. It is not yet clear why she has decided to leave the broadcaster, and the specifics of her next role are unknown. Just weeks ago, the 51-year-old revealed she never planned to go into TV, having instead dreamed of being a radio presenter.
Speaking on the Road To Success podcast, she said: "I never wanted to be a presenter. When I was little I wanted to be a radio presenter. I did that and then up until 2005, I was on a radio station in Southampton. Then talkSPORT were looking for people to present during their ad breaks on camera. My friend was doing it and said: 'You should come up and do it'. So I went and did it and we literally just had to fill in the ad breaks."
She added: "We had no script, no producer, we had people in the radio gallery and they were in our ears but we were all really young. They were saying the most random stuff while I was live, they'd say stuff in your ear while you were reading out all the latest sports headlines. They'd say: 'There's a spider on your shoulder!' while you're reading these sports headlines, to try and throw you off. It was the best training you could ever have! I really enjoyed it."
Brookes then moved to Sky Sports after speaking to the boss for five years before getting an interview. She recalled: "I went to talkSPORT and quit the next day. This was 2006, 20 years ago."
Brookes on Online Abuse After Verstappen Interview
Last year, Brookes was on the receiving end of vile online abuse after interviewing Max Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix. She asked the Dutchman if he deliberately crashed into George Russell in an incident that saw him receive a costly time penalty. Brookes recalled: "I got a lot of messages from people in broadcasting, in sports broadcasting, saying: 'Well done for asking the question'. Because nobody else in that pen that day asked him that question. And even my colleagues said they wouldn't have asked that question, because they'd have been too scared to ask it. But then the fans, the social media side of it, was horrendous. I got people telling me I should never be able to have children because I'm a bad example. I got the most horrific stuff you could imagine. And this is from a lot of these profiles with dads with kids with daughters and things like that."
