Sky Sports F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham returns for Japanese GP after neck surgery

Natalie Pinkham is set to return for Sky Sports F1’s coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix after recovering from major neck surgery that forced her to take five months away

Fan-favourite Sky Sports Formula 1 presenter Natalie Pinkham will return to screens for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix after being absent from the coverage for five months.

Pinkham was forced to skip the 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix due to a slipped disc in her neck that was pressing against nerves affecting her left arm and her spinal cord. After undergoing surgery, the Briton took time to recover before getting the all-clear from doctors for long-haul travel.

"Hello friends… I had hoped to be on a flight to Brazil yesterday, but the last couple of months have been trickier than I expected following neck surgery; and I am not there just yet…" she updated her fans on Instagram at the time.

"Huge thanks to the Sky F1 team and the wider company for their incredible support. Love and thanks to @biowellhealth for helping me to heal…. And to @drbencarraway for starting to get me moving again.

"And here’s to family, friends, good food and fresh air for their combined healing qualities. Now the hard work really starts… Let’s do this! (Sorry if you don’t like scars)"

While speaking to Planet F1 ahead of her return, Pinkham shared details of the surgery. "I hadn’t stopped for 15 years. Even having kids, I was back after six weeks. These last five months, it’s been a useful process for me," she explained.

"It was agony. A disc in my neck slipped. It was pressing not only against the nerves down my left arm but also my spinal cord. The doctors said, 'You have to have that out. Now.' They went in at the front, took the voice box out and moved the trachea and oesophagus.

"Then they took the disc out, fused the vertebrae together, put a little cage in to prop the neck back up and put me back together again. When they told me what they were going to do I was like: 'Not a chance.' They were like, 'Hmm, you don’t really have a choice.'"