Danica Patrick has broken her silence after being let go Formula 1 broadcaster Sky Sports just days ahead of the start of the 2026 season.
‘From my first @skysportsf1 race in Austin to my last 5 years later… I had such a blast!’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘The sky team was so much fun (thank you all), I saw so many amazing new race tracks and cities, and got to be part of a huge boom in F1!
‘I called after the last race in 2025 and said it was time for me to move on and I was so grateful for the opportunity and experience I was given!
‘….and now due to my deep exposure to F1, I will be glued to my tv for the season starting this weekend, like every other fan!
The former IndyCar and NASCAR driver, 44, had been part of their coverage for the past five seasons, first appearing during the United States Grand Prix in October 2021.
The UK broadcaster revealed its lineup for 2026 on Wednesday, with Patrick conspicuously absent from the list of hosts and analysts.
Martin Brundle, Danica Patrick and Simon Lazenby before a 2025 F1 race in Miami
The former IndyCar and NASCAR driver, 44, had been part of their coverage for the past five seasons, first appearing during the United States Grand Prix in October 2021
In recent months, Patrick has become ever-more forthright with her political views, closely aligning herself with MAGA and Donald Trump and leaving viewers split whenever she appeared on screen.
While Sky Sports is the official UK broadcaster of Formula 1, its feed was also shown in the US as part of ESPN’s coverage of the races.
That is set to change this season with the US coverage being taken over by Apple TV, which will primarily use F1TV’s feed for viewers in the States, while keeping Sky as an alternative broadcast.
Patrick passionately backed President Trump ahead of the election, even traveling with him on private jets to and from rallies, a decision which divided F1 fans.
She recently also made a speech at a Turning Point USA ‘Americafest’ event, baffling those in attendance with a story about a ‘past life regression’ that involved her living as a Native American.
The former driver did not appear at every race for Sky Sports, but was a regular analyst for North America races in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas, as well as north of the border in Montreal.
Ahead of the election, Patrick hit the campaign trail to support now-president Donald Trump
Sky Sports made its announcement just days ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, the curtain-raiser for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Naomi Schiff is set to make a return to the screen after taking a break for maternity leave, while Natalie Pinkham will make her comeback at the Japanese Grand Prix after six months away for neck surgery.
Fan favorite Martin Brundle will continue his commentary role, as well as his famous ‘Grid Walk’, and he will be joined by all the usual suspects from recent years.
Patrick hit headlines earlier this week, meanwhile, when she trolled Canada’s silver medal-winning hockey stars after the Winter Olympics.
On Instagram, she shared a post which read: ‘If Canada had been smart and become the 51st State, they’d be gold medalists right now.’
A cheeky Patrick simply captioned her post, ‘Too soon?’
She also spoke out strongly against Billie Eilish in the wake of her anti-ICE Grammys speech earlier in the year.
On the night, the Wildflower singer took a moment to denounce federal law enforcement group ICE in the wake of multiple civilian deaths in Minneapolis.
‘As grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything but that no one is illegal on stolen land. F*** ICE,’ she said in front of a packed out Crypto.com Arena.
The 43-year-old Patrick, a former NASCAR driver, regularly shares photos on her Instagram
While those inside the auditorium cheered, Patrick weighed in and pulled no punches as she shared multiple messages from Eilish’s critics onto her social media page.
One critic wrote: ‘What about if we all showed up to her mansion and said we are going to live there now? It’s stolen land, right? She doesn’t own it’.
Another said: ‘Meanwhile, she’s chilling in her Hollywood Hills fortress with armed guards and a moat of privilege. If the land’s so stolen, sis, hand over the keys to the nearest tribe or migrant family’.
Patrick is widely regarded as one of the greatest female drivers of all-time, and she was the first woman ever to win an IndyCar Series race.
She also has the highest-ever finish for a woman in the Indy500 and Daytona 500 races, and got the first female pole in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Patrick officially retired from her own racing career after the 2018 Indy500.
