Martin Brundle insists Sky F1 not guilty of British bias after Max Verstappen accusation

Martin Brundle insists is "pretty balanced" in its coverage of as he rejected any suggestion of 'British bias'.

It has been a significant talking point within F1 in recent weeks. A significant proportion of media coverage of the sport is from British journalists and outlets and, at the height of his title duel with , some fans of suggested the Dutchman was getting unfair treatment from UK-based media.

Verstappen himself poured fuel on the fire with several comments he made, such as when he suggested he had "the wrong passport" to be making complaints, and when he said he could not see any British journalists in the press conference after he won the most recent race in Brazil.

Particularly critical of Verstappen's driving across the two events beforehand were the likes of Sky Sports pundit , and his former colleague who now serves as an steward. Brundle had also denounced the racer's actions at times but has since denied any suggestion of bias.

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When the topic was brought up to him on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, the former racer and veteran broadcaster replied: "I do not think we do. I am a Brit, I am a former British F1 driver and we are broadcasting primarily to a British broadcaster.

"Others take our feed all the way around the . When I watch the Olympics or the World Cup or the European Cup, obviously, your commentators are fervently pro whichever country they are from. I do not think we do that. I like to think we are pretty balanced, I really do.

"We get flack from pretty much everybody, because what I have learned in these 27, 28 years is that you can say 1,000 positive things about somebody and one negative will get back to them and their fans get onto it, or their family and friends tell them.

"I get a few cool, sideways glances sometimes. Nobody ever comes up to you and says, 'Thank you very much for what you said about us'."

Brundle quickly backtracked on that latter part, though, as he went on to describe the only time he could remember an F1 driver speaking to him about a compliment he gave.

The Sky F1 favourite added: "I did have it once, actually. It was Nico Rosberg, and he came up to me in Malaysia, a million years ago, said, 'I would like to thank you for what you said about me last weekend'. I said, 'Okay, I really appreciate that, because I have got to be honest with you, you are the first driver that has ever said anything to me like that'.

"And by the way, the last. I said, 'If you don't mind, what did I say that you liked? Just for my reference?' He said, 'I do not know, my mum told me I needed to thank you'. So actually, I still have not been thanked by a driver for something."