Simon Lazenby jets in to lead Sky F1 at Interlagos as Pinkham delays return
Sky’s F1 lineup has been shuffled mid-weekend in Brazil, with Simon Lazenby flying in at short notice to front coverage after Natalie Pinkham postponed her planned comeback from neck surgery.
Pinkham, a fixture of the Sky Sports F1 team since the broadcaster took the rights in 2012, had been targeting Interlagos for her return after time away to recover from an operation. But she confirmed on Thursday that recovery hasn’t moved as quickly as hoped, calling the last couple of months “trickier than expected,” and pressing pause on her comeback.
That triggered a relay across Sky’s on-air crew. Craig Slater stepped up for opening practice on Friday, making his debut as lead presenter on the F1 channel. Ted Kravitz then doubled up for sprint qualifying, juggling the anchor role with his usual pit-lane duties, before Lazenby—originally due to sit this one out—landed in São Paulo to take the reins for the remainder of the sprint weekend.
It’s an unusually visible example of the rotation Sky has embraced in recent seasons as F1’s calendar swelled to 24 races. Pinkham and Lazenby have shared the lead chair across the year, a sensible spread that keeps the travel grind from swallowing the team whole. When that plan changes on the fly during a sprint weekend at Interlagos—where the schedule compresses everything—the scramble is a little sharper.
Pinkham, 48, last anchored at Monza in early September. In her update this week, she thanked the Sky F1 crew and wider company for their support, name-checked the medical team helping her back to strength, and signed off with a dose of realism about the road still ahead: now the hard work really starts. The post, accompanied by clips from her recovery, drew a wave of goodwill from fans and paddock regulars alike.
Lazenby’s arrival restores the usual cadence for the rest of the weekend, with Sky’s familiar matchday quarterback back in the hot seat as the sprint and grand prix play out at Interlagos. The broadcaster’s bench is deep—years of Brundle grids, Kravitz notebooks and a rotating cast of world champions have made sure of that—but the lead presenter’s role is still the tone-setter. Especially on a Saturday where qualifying, sprint racing and parc fermé politics come at you without a breath.
For Sky, it’s a reminder that live sport is live for everyone, even the people presenting it. For Pinkham, it’s simply a delay, not a detour. She’s been a constant since the channel’s first season and remains part of a core group that’s become the soundtrack of a generation of UK F1 coverage.
Interlagos rarely needs help in serving drama. This time, the broadcast team had some of its own. Lazenby’s back in the chair, the sprint is in the crosshairs, and Sky’s show carries on—just as the lights go out in São Paulo.
