Herbert was a notable absentee from the list of F1 commentators when the TV broadcaster announced its line-up for the new year.
His decade with Sky Sports came to an end after a shock phone call at the end of 2022, he has revealed.
“I didn’t decide to step away – I thought everything was going ahead!” he told the Mirror.
“And then I got a call in December, I think it was, when I was told things were changing.
“It wasn’t explained why or what was changing. There was a mention of social media stuff and that was about it, really. I don’t really know.
“I was always aware – at Sky they do these subscriber checks where you’re given points out of 10 – and I’ve always known I was always quite popular on that side. It’s a shame, but I’m over it. Moving on.”
Channel 4 broadcast highlights of every F1 race in the UK but will not use Herbert this year, either.
“That hasn’t come into play,” he said. “I did my 11 years at Sky and it was good.
“Now there are other things I’m doing. Because it was in December it was all quite late in terms of sorting other things out. There are a lot of other opportunities but, in terms of seeing me on a TV screen, there’s probably nothing planned on that front.”
Herbert presents a podcast, Lift the Lid, with co-host Billy Monger now.
