Dutch reporter Jack Plooij has revealed the text message that he received from Sky Sports journalist Ted Kravitz which was in reference to the entire row between the broadcasters and Max Verstappen.
Red Bull driver Verstappen has refused to engage in any interviews conducted by Sky Sports and has got the backing of his team in the aftermath of his second successive world championship.
Verstappen said he had felt disrespected by a “specific individual” working with Sky Sports.
This particular person is believed to be Ted Kravitz, who spoke in his ‘Ted’s Notebook’ segment about Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton being “robbed” off a record eighth title last season.
Kravitz said that it would have been quite “a script” if Hamilton had not suffered at the hands of dubious officiating by the then race director Michael Masi.
Now, Plooij has made the message he received from Kravitz in the aftermath of Verstappen’s comments and boycott of Sky Sports.
Plooij said that Kravitz tried to justify his comments and wanted Verstappen and the entire Red Bull team to know that his comments were not meant to offend or target them.
Plooij feels Kravitz is being used as a scapegoat
With recent emphasis on British media bias against Verstappen, Plooij said that he felt Kravitz was simply being made a “scapegoat”.
“I spoke to Ted this morning,” said Plooij. “If you listen carefully to that interview, he’s walking through the paddock and he says it would be a very nice script for a film.
“So cuts were made to that, so everyone only gets to hear that last bit where he tells us he was ‘robbed.’ Not Max, but the title. So Hamilton has been robbed. He doesn’t even mention the whole name Max Verstappen.
“He sent a WhatsApp to me, [saying]: ‘At no point have I ever said what Christian Horner, Jos [Verstappen], Raymond [Vermeulen, Verstappen’s manager] or anybody thinks I did and are apparently upset about.’
“It does get hugely amplified again by those in England. The English press has been bashing Red Bull and Max for a year now. I don’t like that. It’s a bit of a game, you know.
“The English are bashing Max and Red Bull, and he is now being put forward as a scapegoat. He isn’t. I stick up for Ted.”
Red Bull and Verstappen are soon expected to end their boycott of Sky Sports at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which will be the penultimate race weekend of the season.