Formula 1 fans will not see a familiar face this year as coverage of the world’s biggest racing series comes to Apple TV in the states. American racing veteran Danica Patrick will not be featured in the company’s list of analysts for the 2026 F1 season.
Sky released their coverage plans and broadcast talent for the 2026 season and Patrick’s name was noticeably absent. American F1 fans have been treated to the British broadcaster’s coverage of Formula 1 as it has been syndicated on ESPN during the length of their rights deal with the racing series. This year, Apple TV will provide American viewers both the Sky feed featuring David Croft and Martin Brundle and the entire team of analysts and reporters as well as the in-house F1 feed.
Sky had featured Patrick alongside multiple Formula 1 champions and veterans as a pre-race analyst including the likes of Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg. She was traditionally utilized as an analyst during the North American races in the United States and Canada.
Patrick was a trailblazer in American racing as the first woman to win an IndyCar series race. After 116 races in IndyCar, where she scored seven podium finishes, she moved to NASCAR. She found limited success in stock cars, but never won a race in 191 starts. Regardless, her record speaks for itself as the most accomplished female driver in the history of American racing.
That record wasn’t enough to ever win over Formula 1 fans around the world, though. Given her lack of F1 experience, she was a polarizing presence for many race fans who found her insights banal and generic.
And that’s not to mention the elephant in the room of her very outspoken and increasingly extreme conservative politics, that have become more and more pronounced in recent years. For instance, after the USA hockey team won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics, she posted that Canada should have “been smart and become the 51st state.” That probably wouldn’t have made her a very popular figure in the pitlane at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal this year. Her podcast is also a home for conspiracy theories like whether or not the moon landing is real.
Danica Patrick has also been a part of Indianapolis 500 coverage in past years for both NBC and Fox Sports and it remains to be seen whether she will return in that role this year.
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