By Joe Murphy
“The man who couldn’t really walk the walk, decided to talk the talk”.
Last week, Sky Sports’ lead F1 commentator, David “Crofty” Croft, sat down with Joe Murphy of Wheel2Wheel Reports, to discuss the 2021 season, the race week of a sports journalist and some memorable, stand out moments from the man who has been the voice of the sport for over a decade. Originally from Stevenage, Crofty was offered the job of F1 commentator (for the BBC at the time) in December 2005 and has now called over 285 races in Formula 1. We started this conversation about the location of the most recent of these races, however.
A brilliant start in Bahrain…
Crofty started off by defending criticisms of the Bahrain Grand Prix. He debunked people’s perceptions that there aren’t many fans at the event saying this isn’t true, it is just that fans choose to watch the races from more comfortable facilities behind the main grandstand. He praised the venue, claiming that this event offers some of the greatest facilities of any of the circuits on the F1 Calendar. Regarding Bahrain being the opening race this season, Crofty feels that Bahrain lends itself better to action on the track than Melbourne. He stated that Albert Park doesn’t overly lend itself to overtaking and the better chance of a spectacle for your season opener is Bahrain. He loves the fans and atmosphere at Melbourne and looks forward to going there every year but staging a race in the Middle East first is better for western audiences, teams and commentators alike, with there being far less distance to travel. This could be why Sky Sports set a new ratings record for the first race of the 2021 season after 10 years of coverage, he claims.
Crofty then went on to explain how this F1 season is set up to be the best yet. “Everyone has their own favourite driver, their own favourite team. There is truly something for everyone.” He went on to say that although Lewis Hamilton took the top podium step, he had a “bloody hard battle for it” and he went as far as to say that the Brit was pumped following the race and he was perhaps as excited as he’s ever seen the current 7-time World Champion. Crofty recounted how both Lewis and Max Verstappen relish a battle, love the thrill of competition and one won’t shy away from the other. He hopes that Bahrain is just a taste of what’s to come, with certain tracks coming up where Red Bull will probably be even quicker, including the next outing in Imola.
Pierre and Alex weren’t ready for Red Bull drive…
The conversation then moved on to discussing the top two teams and what direction they may be heading in regarding driver line-ups. Crofty is reluctant to call anyone a lead driver, but says it is clear Max and Lewis are on the top of their game right now. He defends Valtteri Bottas for the “unfair” criticism the Finn comes under, despite being an integral part to Mercedes recent dominance. He claims you could bring Max in, spend thirty million dollars more, and still get the same net result. With that being said, Valtteri, Lewis and George Russell are all out of contract at the end of the season and with only two seats to fill, there may be a change for 2022.
On Sergio Perez in the other championship contending car, Crofty feels; “he’s been signed to give Red Bull ammunition to win the constructors championship. That’s where the pounds are paid out.” He went further by suggesting Checo showed the world he deserves this seat in a top team after ten years in the sport, with his; “super drive” in Bahrain. Naturally, the conversation then came onto the future of that second Red Bull seat after the Mexican’s tenure. “You need to be some driver to be within a few tenths of Max” Crofty argued, but he disagreed with the claim that Red Bull are building their team around the Dutchman at the expense of other drivers, saying this tactic would instead be detrimental to their efforts in pursuing the constructors championship.
Joe: What do you think of the idea that Red Bull are building their team around Max?
Crofty: I don’t think that’s the case, yeah I don’t agree. I think yes, they are setting their sights around Max, because they know they’ve got one of the best drivers on the grid, but they won’t disadvantage his teammate because that compromises their efforts at the constructors championships. Same for Valtteri at Mercedes. They want Valtteri to do as best he can.
When asked about Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda, three contenders to line up alongside Verstappen long term, he had this to say; “for me, Pierre was promoted a year too early. He is a really good driver… has gone back to Alpha Tauri, won the race at Monza and is rebuilding his confidence.” He hopes that Alex can do the same, claiming that he was also promoted too soon. Crofty assured; “he would hate for either of these two driver’s careers to be over, before it had even begun…”. With an eye on the future, he also warned against assuming the Frenchman automatically wanted to go back to Red Bull, with a move to another team, a possibility. With reference to the Japanese rookie, Crofty remained coy on building him up too much following a superb debut showing in the season opener. He does however like Yuki and word around the paddock is that he has looked the business for a while now, despite some question marks over whether he was ready for the jump to F1, considering he was in Japanese F4 less than three years ago. Crofty revealed it was in fact Franz Tost, Team Principal at Alpha Tauri, who stated the case for Yuki, being an “absolute cheerleader” him. The voice of Formula 1 went as far as to say that according to a member of the team, Tost wanted Tsunoda in the car this year, he was ready and even forced the move through, instead of having the youngster spend another year in F2. Having been around drivers long enough, Crofty feels Tost knows what he is doing.
“On a superyacht in Monaco, the epicentre of the sporting world that weekend. Not bad for a boy from Stevenage.”
The discussion moved more onto Crofty himself and how he came to find himself an integral part of the motorsport. From the beginning, Crofty was fully aware that he had to work his way up the journalism ladder. Starting with Stevenage Borough’s Club Call line in 1992, his first taste of motor racing being a few years later when working for Three Counties Radio. With part of the circuit falling under the radio stations jurisdiction, he got hold of two Silverstone passes and worked at the track for several consecutive years from 1995, interviewing drivers and learning more about the sport. After getting offered a one-month position at the BBC, Crofty had left his previous job as a theatre press officer to grab this opportunity. His advice for anyone looking to get into this field is that you need; “to stick at it, keep going… keep writing to people and eventually someone takes a chance on you. If you put yourself at the right place at the right time and work hard, you’ll get that lucky break.” He also advised not to get discouraged by rejection and, to work in Formula 1, prepare to do other sports first; “with the skills of journalism being broadly the same across sports with 4 wheels, 2 wheels or even four legs or two legs”.
“Joe, Why say no in life…”
Crofty claimed that he found himself in situations whereby someone said ‘would you…’, he would respond with a “yes” before the sentence finished. He recommended that in this field; “you need practise and to hone your craft… I wasn’t sure how to do this, but people kept offering me to get into situations, like highlights videos and the Toulon trophy. His big advice for those starting off looking to emulate his career is that; “I was making all the mistakes under the sun but learning. From those mistakes, practising and honing my craft. I did an interview with 3 counties – voluntarily learnt more about editing and broadcasting… worked Monday to Friday, would finish early and spend 4 hours learning editing, broadcasting, script writing and production, voiceovers.” So, when his mates were down the pub, he carried on working. As well as working full time, he started Saturdays for Westcountry Television. Crofty revealed that he worked so hard six days of the week, he spent Sunday’s catching up on the sleep he had missed. He also made sure to say how he is to this day, incredibly grateful to have been taught. “You are only as good in life as the people who teach us and guide us”, in his case, these people were Ken Wilson and Mike Laylor, with these two playing a huge part in helping him and supporting him in those early days.
“Best job in the world…”
The commentator revealed he never had any plans to commentate on F1, but he was working all the hours of the day and more to get as high up the journalism ladder as possible. It wasn’t until the 23rd of December 2005 when he was offered the position of BBC Radio F1 commentator. The call came at 2am in a Vegas bar and it all continued to snowball from there. He suggests that although he may have no formal qualifications to do what he does for a living, when someone offers you this role it is impossible to turn it down. In his own words, “Why say no? Whatever you do in life you’ve got to do it properly… throw yourself into it… no half measures. Every time you get a foot on the ladder you must work even harder to get to that next step.” He is adamant that you need good, solid people around you in order to be successful and this is what he had from the early days. Crofty confirmed that he made many sacrifices along the way, but they are worth taking to beat everybody else to the position you want. When he looks around the paddock around the streets of Monte Carlo, he reaps the rewards of his hard work. In his own words, “for someone who couldn’t walk the walk”, he decided to become successful by talking the talk instead. The two bits of key advice he left me with was to work as hard as you can and to always say yes to everything.
Crofty regarding race commentary: “Martin and I then have a two hour conversation, which millions of people listen to…”
An interesting fact revealed by Crofty is that all commentary, including the track introduction, is completely “off the top of his head”. On a typical race week, Monday consists of a Covid test and keeping abreast of the latest F1 news. Tuesday he will then write two sides of A4 of notes on all the drivers, teams and these notes will include a track map. Wednesday is all about reading, filling in Covid forms and preparing and packing his suitcase (a task where ironing alone takes a few hours). Usually, a Thursday is when he’ll fly out to the track and spend the afternoon speaking to team members in the paddock and attending press conferences, something which also is done on Friday. As well as fulfilling other Sky commitments, he will then commentate on practice session and qualifying over the early part of the weekend before a “two-hour conversation” with Martin Brundle on Sunday, that being the race commentary. Whilst the race is on, Crofty will have his 2-sided sheet of notes, stats on the commentary box wall, the television monitor, the world feed and a driver tracker. He disclosed that the less notes he has, the more he is focused on calling the action how it is, allowing for a more fluent commentary. This is key, with a total of 115 separate commentaries to do this year. Either Sunday night or Monday morning, the return flight departs.
With the aim on a Sunday, Crofty says that every race, he plans to tell a story. He will narrate the action as he sees it and he get’s excited hoping people at home get interested and invested in the sport. Ultimately, Crofty never shouts, he just shows his passion for the sport in the hope that the viewer watching tunes in again next time. If he can’t get excited about some of the dramatic moments in his last 285 races, how can he expect the audience at home to be invested. All he thinks about for those two hours on a Sunday is how to tell a story about the action that is unfolding.
On Grosjean’s Bahrain crash: “There is a huge responsibility on my shoulders and on Martin’s shoulders, to get it right…”
The realness of the risks associated with F1 were fully on display when Romain Grosjean hit the barriers just after turn 3. The flames were an immediate sign that it was a big incident, something which has to be commentated on in a careful and measured way, as Crofty explained. He referenced the fact that he doesn’t know who is watching. For all he knows, Romain’s wife and other family may be watching. Therefore, what he must do is call it as he sees it and not speculate. It is crucial, as the voice narrating the events, that he tells audiences what he knows, not to speculate as to what he doesn’t know.
After a few seconds, he could see it was the Frenchman and the moment he saw the driver get out of the fireball, it was a huge weight off the shoulders of all the team. He stressed that although there was a clear difference in his commentary after the incidence with the now subdued atmosphere, he was very proud about how all at Sky dealt with the incident. Having only recently watched the race back for the first time in the form of Drive to Survive on Netflix, he recalls how he had updates in his ear but, aside from the driver tracker, all he could see is the monitor the audience saw on television. As he went on to say; “There are times where the FIA has been criticised and there are times where it should be praised. With safety, it should be praised.” Crofty also confirmed his support for the halo, saying it has already saved lives, and will continue to do so.
“The Drivers are heroes, they do things in cars you or I could only dream of doing. The more time I spend with them, the more I realise just how good they are…”
We then started to conclude the interview discussing Crofty’s F1 career highlights so far. The commentator stopped short of choosing a favourite circuit. He always looks forward to going to Austin and relishes the visit to Shanghai because of how good the track is. Bahrain is one of the best venues for facilities and hospitality, whereas Monaco; he describes as “the epicentre of the sporting world” when Formula 1 rolls into town. Regarding the streets of Monte Carlo, Crofty can understand Monaco criticism. However, despite the amazing effort last season to get a race calendar, something felt missing without the “spectacle” that is the Monaco Grand Prix. He said that he loves Silverstone. With the best fans in the world, he will always be a; “bit of a home boy” and will never forget Lewis crowd surfing after one of his best wins around the British circuit.
Crofty also cannot pick a race that’s his favourite. There are many that stick in his mind such as Brazil 2008. Silverstone of the same year also is unforgettable with it being “one of Lewis’ best wins” he has witnessed, sailing through the rain sodden track like poetry in motion. Turkey in 2020 also stands out. He said how there are a lot of Hamilton wins that he has commentated on. In fact, he has been the main voice for every Lewis pole and win. He disclosed that because there have been so many great races and memorable moments, one day he may write a book about them.
Crofty made sure to mention that in commentary, you are only as good as your last race. As part of the job, he always needs to be looking ahead and living in the moment rather than trying to reflect.
“Free yourself and let yourself be guided…”
He does things away from F1 such as talking to school classes to get a sense of perspective from time to time and is always looking to learn. Moreover, Crofty never forgets the advice picked up at a church sermon many years ago. Stopping short of following in Father Alan Washbrook’s advice of letting the Lord guide him when commentating, he says it is always important to go with the moment. He admits he must prepare adequately but ultimately; he cannot allow himself to overthink and complicate the job at hand. He just waits for those five red lights to go out on a Sunday, then it is simply “lights out and away we go”.
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WHEEL2WHEEL REPORTS 
Absolutely brilliant informative writing from W young man who obviously knows his topic !
Loved it
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