Former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick recently opened up about her departure from Sky Sports Formula One coverage, claiming that she decided to step away from the job at the conclusion of last season.
Since her retirement from racing, Danica Patrick has taken a route that many former drivers take to stick around the sport, working as an analyst for motorsports broadcasts.
Though the former IndyCar and NASCAR star is known for her exploits racing in the United States, in an interesting twist, Patrick’s first major broadcasting work came with Sky Sports as an occasional part of their Formula One coverage.
But after a handful of seasons in her role, a press release ahead of the charter broadcast for this year’s coverage of Formula One did not list Patrick as an analyst.
With fans wondering and speculating who initiated the breakup, or if it was merely a mutual parting of ways, Patrick cleared the air in an interview with Jenna Fryer of AP Sports.
The 43-year-old Wisconsin native said that, while she appreciated her time working in Formula One, it was her decision to step away from her role with the network, telling Fryer, “it was time for me to move on.”
Patrick quietly stepping out of the spotlight as a broadcaster is similar to how she wound down her racing career.
Of course, her time behind the wheel was, at first, one of the biggest stories in motorsports, as the Wisconsin native took IndyCar by storm, winning two poles in her rookie season, and progressing to her first win in 2008, becoming the first ever woman to win a race in IndyCar.
While her stardom still towered over IndyCar, the 28-year-old began moonlighting in NASCAR in 2010, racing in the then-NASCAR Nationwide Series part-time in 2010 and 2011, before going full-time with JR Motorsports in 2012.
She made the jump to full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing in 2013, winning the pole for the Daytona 500.
But, over the years, her time at the front of the sport slowly dwindled, before leaving her full-time ride after 2017, and making one final start in the Cup Series and IndyCar Series in 2018.
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