Sky Sports focuses on British drivers and ignores Verstappen: Fact or fiction?

Fernando Alonso couldn't resist broaching the subject again recently. "If Bortoleto had been British, he would have been on every British front page," said the Spaniard of the driver he manages.

According to the two-time world champion, Bortoleto is excelling this season, but he doesn't get enough credit for it. British drivers simply have a head start with the British F1 media, according to criticism from Alonso and many others in the paddock. But is it really the case that the British media pay more attention to their own drivers than non-Brits?

Australian photographer Kym Illman took the test and counted how often the names of drivers were mentioned during the Belgian Grand Prix. Lando Norris was mentioned a whopping 106 times, according to his count. Oscar Piastri - not a Brit - was mentioned 88 times in the live report. Max Verstappen, in turn, was discussed much less. The Red Bull Racing driver was mentioned 54 times. 

Of course, it should not go unmentioned that Lando Norris fought for the race win in Belgium and Verstappen played a secondary role. Moreover, it also turns out that Viaplay didn't mention Verstappen in the Netherlands as often as might have been expected. The F1 photographer also reviewed the Dutch broadcaster's report and saw that Verstappen was 'only' mentioned 65 times.

More was said about Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on Viaplay too, which - as said - seems logical given how the race went. It can't be concluded from the data from this single Grand Prix that Sky Sports deliberately talks less about non-British drivers.