The broadcaster keeping their line-up for this year was announced by PlanetF1, who contacted Sky Sports to find out there plans for 2024.

Sky Sports keeping one pundit in particular has caused some uproar, given that they are a controversial figure.

That person is former NASCAR and IndyCar race winner Danica Patrick, who angered fans on multiple occasions last season.

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Patrick will be part of the UK broadcaster’s punditry team at seven of the 24 races this year, although it’s yet to be confirmed which seven.

Some of her takes on F1 in 2023 frustrated fans, particularly from the female audience, after she stated at the Hungarian Grand Prix that the mindset needed to compete in F1 isn’t suited to a “female mind”.

“I think that the nature of the sport is masculine. It’s aggressive,” Patrick said last year at the Hungaroring.

“You have to, you know, handle the car. Not only just the car because that’s skill, but the mindset that it takes to be really good is something that’s not normal in a feminine mind, a female mind.”

Despite backlash, she went onto cement her views on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, where she admitted that the all-female F1 Academy is “not important” to her.

Patrick believes that championships like F1 Academy actually hold female drivers back from reaching the pinnacle of motorsport.

READ: ‘It has to work’: Helmut Marko admits no 2026 backup plan in place

She also angered fans at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last season, after she admitted that the fans who were impacted by the opening day chaos should’ve bought weekend passes to avoid being disappointed.

Fans who paid for a Friday ticket only in Sin City were treated to only a handful of minutes of on-track action, after Carlos Sainz hitting a loose manhole cover resulted in a huge delay..

Those in attendance waited over two hours without seeing anything, only to be told to leave before Free Practice 2 was finally about to get underway very early Saturday morning.

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Red Bull made a dreadful start to the Singapore GP on Friday and encountered several issues with their car, much to Max Verstappen’s and Sergio Perez’s frustration.

Neither Red Bull driver featured towards the top of Free Practice 1 or Free Practice 2, making some believe that the Austrians had finally met their match.

Patrick wasn’t buying into Red Bull’s poor Friday display though and pondered whether games were being “played” by the unstoppable side.

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“I’m not always buying every time that a team has a bad day, or even a session,” Patrick said on Sky Sports F1 Friday evening.

“There’s probably games getting played, and then sometimes you just miss it.

“So yeah, not really counting them out. But they did come in saying it would probably be a little bit more of a struggle, and so far that’s been true… it’s only Friday.”

Free Practice 3 Saturday afternoon proved that Red Bull’s Singapore woes were very much real, and that games were definitely not being played by the side.

Patrick’s prediction was certainly seen as wrong in qualifying, where both Verstappen and Perez were eliminated in Q2.

Verstappen could only salvage 11th whilst Perez claimed 13th, after the Mexican span on his final hot lap in the second part of qualifying.

Astonishingly, both drivers were out-qualified by AlphaTauri stand-in Liam Lawson, who progressed to Q3 on just his third attempt.

With both Red Bull drivers struggling at one of the most demanding races on the calendar, it does look likely that the side’s 15-race winning streak will finally conclude on Sunday.

READ: Martin Brundle gets evicted

Either Verstappen or Perez require the performance of their lives to fight through the field to claim victory for the team, to extend their winning streak against all odds.

Verstappen in particular will be desperate to recover on Sunday, given that he’s on a record-breaking winning streak of 10 races.

Concerningly, Perez has already admitted that Red Bull’s winning streak is “definitely” over, due to how weak they are in Singapore.

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Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen ended Friday in seventh and eighth, in what was a day full of complaints from both drivers.

Neither driver was happy with the rear end of the RB19, to the extent that Perez admitted over the team radio that he lacked confidence when braking.

Given how rare bad days have been for Red Bull this season, the other teams aren’t sure whether the Austrians woes are genuine.

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With Red Bull having won every race this season that’s understandable, with even Patrick pondering whether games are “getting played” by the side.

“I’m not always buying every time that a team has a bad day, or even a session,” Patrick told Sky Sports F1. “Because sometimes it just all of a sudden turns the other direction.

“There’s probably games getting played, and then sometimes you just miss it. So yeah, not really counting them out.

“But they did come in saying it would probably be a little bit more of a struggle, and so far that’s been true…it’s only Friday.”

This weekend is a big one for Red Bull, with the outfit being just eight wins away from a perfect campaign.

Being seven-tenths behind pacesetter Carlos Sainz certainly isn’t ideal though, leaving Red Bull with significant work to do ahead of qualifying.

If Red Bull want to extend their winning streak to 16 races, then they’ll need to unlock some more performance from their car.

Verstappen also needs to find some pace, given that he was even behind his team-mate following Free Practice 2.

READ: Teams bring huge upgrades to 2023 Singapore GP

The reigning World Champion was also complaining about poor upshifts once again, something he’s complained about at almost every Grand Prix this season.

The pressure is very much on for the two-time World Champion, who’s never won in Singapore before, something he’ll have to do to extend his personal record-breaking winning streak to 11 races.

Verstappen could only salvage seventh last season, whereas Perez claimed victory from Charles Leclerc and Sainz.

The post Red Bull and Max Verstappen accused of ‘playing games’ appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Chadwick made the move across the pond for 2023 having won the W Series three seasons in a row, prior to the championship going into administration.

She’s currently racing for Andretti in INDY NXT, a feeder series for IndyCar.

With Michael Andretti trying to get the team into F1 though, an opportunity could potentially arise for Chadwick in the future to become the first female to enter a Grand Prix since 1992.

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“We were talking about Jamie Chadwick last night and she’s doing some racing over in the states,” Patrick said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

“I think she’s linked up with Andretti. Obviously, she seems like she’s a pretty good candidate to have an opportunity.

“There’s Hailie Deegan who does NASCAR off-road kind of stuff. She’s been driving for a really long time. I think of how long she’s been around and then I’m like wow she’s only, I’m not sure exactly, maybe 20 or 21. I’m like wow she is pretty young.”

Whilst it arguably still isn’t enough, F1 is trying to support female racing drivers, by creating the all-female F1 Academy series.

The F1 Academy is being run by the pinnacle of motorsport, whilst Susie Wolff’s is the sport’s managing director.

Wolff is the last woman to take part in an F1 session, after completing Free Practice 1 for Williams at the 2014 British Grand Prix.

READ: Mercedes reveal George Russell stance amid Lewis Hamilton contract uncertainty

The aim of F1 Academy is to promote young female talent, to attract interest from teams in the likes of Formula 3 and Formula 2.

Whilst Patrick is keen to see a female driver back in F1, she’s sceptical about the idea of an all-female series, with the Sky Sports F1 pundit noting that those competing in F1 Academy will still have to “race against guys” to get an F1 seat.

“I think as someone who was obviously a girl, you’ve just got to come up like normal and I do have a little bit of, not criticism, but an opinion about female series is that it’s fine it can give opportunity to some who might not get a chance otherwise to show what they can do, but at the end of the day you’re going to have to race against guys,” said Patrick.

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On the opening lap of the practice session, the Mexican driver lost control of his car, veering onto the grass before spinning and colliding with the barriers, triggering a red flag. 

The incident comes at a challenging time for Perez, who is currently facing mounting pressure to deliver strong performances in order to secure his position within the dominant team.

Danica Patrick, providing expert analysis for Sky Sports F1, offered her insights into Perez’s unfortunate mistake. 

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She expressed, “Was it pushing too hard or was it just being a little bit lazy? That’s one of the worst as a driver.”

She empathised with the driver, acknowledging the disappointment he must feel for letting his team down during a crucial phase of the championship. 

“You’re just letting your team down and knowing that they’re going to have to work so hard. 

“Also, just that doubt, that feeling of frustration that they have, and you feel really guilty,” she stated.

The crash raises questions about the mental and emotional toll that the intense pressure of competing at the highest level of Formula 1 can have on drivers. 

With the championship race in full swing, every point and performance matters, and the pressure to perform can sometimes lead to costly errors.

Sergio Perez, who joined Red Bull this season, is well aware of the expectations placed upon him to support his teammate and championship contender, Max Verstappen. 

However, the highly competitive nature of the sport demands consistently excellent performances, and any mistakes can have significant consequences.

Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, commented on the incident, saying, “It’s a shame for Checo (Perez) to have the accident so early in the session. 

“We will, of course, investigate what happened, but fortunately, he’s okay, and the damage doesn’t look too severe.”

READ: Red Bull’s ingenious upgrade explained

As the team evaluates the cause of the crash, Perez himself will undoubtedly be reflecting on the incident, seeking ways to bounce back and prove his worth to the team and fans.

And Perez did bounce back in the race, delivering when needed, with a P3 finish to ensure his return to the podium after a number of frustrating weekends.

While he couldn’t make it a Red Bull 1-2, as Lando Norris held on to the P2 spot, Perez will be happy to have showed his podium potential is still alive.

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Mercedes will be hoping that their disappointing start to the 2023 Formula 1 season comes to an end at the next race in Imola, with the Germans having put so much expectation onto their new concept.

The new concept to the W14 is expected to result in a considerably different looking car, including, new sidepods.

Mercedes have spoken so much about how excited they are for Imola, raising the question over what will happen should the new concept not perform as expected.

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Patrick believes the Brackley-based team will be in for a challenging triple-header should the new concept not “live up” to the team’s expectations; however, she did note that if the concept improves their performance then it will “be a big deal”.

“If this does really work and, at Imola, they get going better than will look like an entirely different season moving forwards,” Patrick said on Sky Sports F1.

“The test will be if they don’t see what they want to see.

“They have a high expectation that it doesn’t live up to it, but they don’t make enough progress, then the test will be going into a triple-header. 

“You’ve got to keep cool, stay positive, know there is more racing to be done.

“If the upgrade really does work, it will be a big deal for them.”

2009 World Champion Jenson Button added on Patrick’s comments, with the ex-McLaren driver having explained that Imola is a “big weekend” for Mercedes’ season.

“They have, because they’ve told us that they’ve got a big upgrade coming at Imola.

READ: Helmut Marko makes scathing comment about Toto Wolff’s trust in Mercedes

“It’s a big weekend for them. We are all excited by it, we need people jumping up the grid to fight the front guys.

“Hopefully it will put them in a place where they can fight Aston Martin. They won’t fight the Red Bull yet.

“For Fernando Alonso he wants the competition, he loves the competition with Lewis.”

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