F1, as a sport, has reached unprecedented heights with its owners, Liberty Media, and the teams are making more money than ever. But it comes at a cost—spending more than half of the year away from home. With the current calendar featuring 24 races, things have never been more hectic.
This makes the schedule physically and mentally draining, not just for drivers and mechanics, but also for broadcasters. That’s why Naomi Schiff revealed that she will be sitting out a race this month (April).
This is part of Sky Sports’ rotational roster of presenters and pundits for the 2025 season. So, apart from Schiff, many other figures part of Sky Sports’ broadcasting team like Martin Brundle, Jenson Button, Natalie Pinkham, among others would have the luxury to miss select races this year.
Previously, leading figures have opted to take time off to avoid a mental and physical burnout so they can continue to make the sport as entertaining and insightful as it is via their coverage. Last year, David Croft—Sky Sports’ lead commentator since 2013, who hadn’t missed a race since—decided to miss three Grand Prix weekends to prepare for his wedding. As for Schiff, though, her reasoning to miss one race in April is different.
Firstly, there are three races this month, according to the schedule. And Schiff, via her Instagram story, revealed that she would be traveling to two of them—Suzuka and Bahrain.
The 30-year-old won’t be attending the Saudi Arabian GP, which is two weeks before the Miami GP weekend—F1’s first visit to the USA in 2025. Instead, she will be traveling to Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, most likely to unwind and recharge ahead of the glamourous outing in Florida.
Sky Sports F1 presenter Naomi Schiff confirms that she won’t be attending the Saudi Arabian GP to take some time off in South Africa in April.
She will attend the Bahrain and Japan double header pic.twitter.com/LSRlk9eHRb
— Motorsport Fan (@F1IndyWEC) April 1, 2025
Schiff could also be traveling to South Africa for work, though this wouldn’t be her first personal break from Sky Sports. She also got married last year and didn’t attend the Singapore GP. So, it’s plausible that she’s simply taking more time for herself instead of spending four days in Jeddah.
Schiff will be trackside this weekend, however, calling the Japanese GP as part of her routine duties. There was a one-week gap following the last race in China, which made the trip to the Land of the Rising Sun less hectic. However, just the weekend after Japan, Bahrain will follow, bringing back the familiar frantic schedule. So, it’s understandable why she would want to take the Saudi Arabian GP weekend off.
Whether other personalities in the paddock will take weekends off this year remains to be seen, but it’s likely.
