Sky has silenced reports that their pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz was dismissed from the network, by officially confirming the British journalist in their full lineup of presenters for the 2019 season. The rumored firing of Kravitz sparked outrage among Formula One fans.
The speculation was fueled by Kravitz’s absence from pre-season testing – where he usually hosts a brief segment called Ted’s Notebook to break down the technical action in the garage throughout the day – and the Brit’s social media blackout following the launch of the Haas car earlier in the month. The Haas launch was Ted’s only Tweet of 2019. He was also noticeably excluded from an article highlighting the Sky Sports F1 lineup for the 2019 season.
Fans ran to the aid of Kravitz, starting a petition on Change.org that garnered nearly 4000 digital signatures. The rumors also led to some trending hashtags on social media, such as #WheresTed, #FindTed, #TedGate and #SaveTed.
Sky has since released an updated article listing their full presenter lineup for the 2019 season, which does indeed include Kravitz, putting the speculation of his firing to rest.
While many believe that he was always working for Sky and was just taking a break before the start of the season, some believe that his contract actually was terminated, but has since been reinstated due to the controversy it caused.
