“Murphy meets Crofty” 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…
We spoke just a few days after the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix, a track that Crofty felt offered some of the greatest facilities of any of the circuits on the F1 Calendar. “It’s a track that tends to promote overtaking, far more than the current Melbourne layout”, he stated. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the changes to the Albert Park circuit help with more overtaking chances in the future. Melbourne is a great place to begin the season from the point of view of the atmosphere and the fan attendance, but the racing doesn’t always come up to scratch and from that point of view, Bahrain is a better place to hold the season opener.”
“It’s also closer for the teams, no jet leg in Bahrain. And better for the European fans in that they don’t have to stay up all night or wake up extra early to catch the action. Sky F1 recorded their highest ever audience ratings for a Grand Prix, that’s no coincidence surely.”
“We’ve got the prospect of a brilliant 23-race season ahead of us, with close battles up and down the grid and a potential history making 8th World Title for Lewis, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when you stage the opening race at a time more suitable for European TV audiences, the fans respond by tuning in in larger numbers.”
And what a race it was, 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 and love the thrill of competition. 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.
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’s finished as runner up in the Championship for the last 2 years, Lewis has been Champion and Mercedes have won the Constructors Title. There’s nothing more that the team could have achieved and Valtteri played his part in that. Mercedes could sign Max, sure, but they would be spending a whole lot more to achieve the same result!”
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. “Pit lane to 5th, brilliant from Checo.” 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, 3 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 really they 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 that Franz Tost, Team Principal at Alpha Tauri, pushed for Yuki to be promoted up to the team for this season. He felt that Yuki was ready and didn’t need another season 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 out by writing reports on Stevenage Boro for the local newspaper in 1992, his first taste of motor racing being a few years later when working for BBC Three Counties Radio. With part of the circuit falling under the radio stations jurisdiction, “we covered Beds, Herts and Bucks, never forget that Stowe corner is in Buckinghamshire”, he got hold of two passes for the Grand Prix each year and covered the F1 action, interviewing drivers and learning more about the sport.
Crofty’s early forays into sports journalism and broadcasting coincided with his full time job as Press Officer at the local theatre in Stevenage. He left that job in October 1995 when he was offered a one month contract at BBC Three Counties, an offer that he took all of two seconds to accept. “It would have been lovely to been offered a more secure position of course” he reflected, “But here was a BBC Local radio station taking a chance on a relatively inexperienced, but very keen, broadcaster and those chances don’t come around every day of the week.
“I’d been covering all sorts and trying to work my way up the ladder. Including a stint at the Toulon Under-20 football tournament where I was asked if I could provide the commentary for the world feed. They wanted somebody with some commentary experience, which to be honest I didn’t have, I may have told a little fib to get the gig, but it was worth it as that job lead to a season working for West Country TV on Saturdays. I couldn’t have been that bad!”
“That one month contract though, it turned into 3 months, 5 months, a year and eventually a full-time position. I learned so much and have so many people to thank for taking the time to teach me how things were done. I never studied journalism or broadcasting but I learnt on the job, made plenty of mistakes, worked bloody hard and took advantage of every opportunity that came my way. That’s what you need to do, it’s a competitive world and if it’s your dream to be a sports commentator, as it was for me as a young boy, then you’re only cheating yourself if you don’t throw everything into achieving that dream once you get a foot on the ladder.
“For instance, for a while, I used to finish work at the threatre at 4pm on Fridays – started at 8am – and then drive to the radio station to work as a volunteer on the Friday sports show. My mates would be down the pub having a Friday night out, I’d be learning all sorts, before heading home and then traveling to a far flung football ground the next day for West Country TV. It was exhausting, combining a full time job with an ever increasing broadcasting career, but worth every second and guys like Ken Wilson and Mike Naylor (former BB 3CR Sports editors) who took a chance on me and helped train me up, I’m so grateful to them, I’d never have got the start I did without their help.
They made sure that I was in the right place at the right time when an opening came up.
For those who ask, and plenty do, how do I get a job like yours? Work hard and don’t get discouraged by rejection. You might want to work in Formula 1 but 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’. If somebody asks ‘Can you?’ The answer is yes, always find a way to say yes, otherwise the opportunity goes to somebody else. Learn from your mistakes, practice and practice and enjoy the experience.”
“Best job in the world…”
The commentator revealed he never had any plans to commentate on F1, but after many years at BBC 5-Live working on a variety of sports, he did want to specialise and in December 2005 he got the chance. I’d been to Las Vegas a couple of months before and the F1 Producer for 5-Live persuaded me to audition for the commentary role. So I did and on 23rd December I was offered the job. However, nothing in life is as straightforward as it sounds and to accept the role, Crofty had to leave his full time job with the BBC and go freelance, for what was initially a one year contract.
“The F1 coverage was being produced by an Independent production company, hence the need for me to go freelance, but once again I found myself saying YES, long before I thought of any down sides to it. It was up to me to make it more than a one year deal, so I set about working as hard as could to make it a little more permanent. 15 years on, I’m still working just as hard.”
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…”
A typical race week currently looks a bit like this for Crofty. Monday consists of his first Covid test of the week, before starting work on his notes for the race. Tuesday he’ll finish off his notes – two sides of A4, facts and stats on all the drivers and teams plus a track map, filled with more general stats on the race itself. There’s also a heap of forms to fill in, travelling is not easy at the moment, a suitcase to pack and the revelation that Crofty not only packs his own case, but does his own ironing as well. “I’m not a fast ironer so it takes me a few hours, but it does give me a chance to pop the headphones on and immerse myself in a some Primordial Radio (An online Rock and Metal Radio Station) or a Podcast (Renegades, the Obama/Springsteen Podcast is just terrific).”
Wednesday or Thursday is also a travel day depending on where the race is. Once at the track there is plenty to be done in terms of research and chasing up on a few of the stories that may be part of the agenda that particular weekend.
“I also try and run the track if I can, especially if I haven’t been there before or for a long while. It helps familiarise yourself with the corners and where the cameras are positioned. Plus, I enjoy running, I might not be very good at it, but I do enjoy the challenge.”
The on track action starts on Friday and all leads up to the “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.
Then either Sunday night or Monday morning, the return flight departs. Crofty returns home for a few days, or a week, before it all begins again.
I asked Crofty about his role as a commentator and he tells me that he’s essentially a narrator, telling a story as it happens and helping the viewer try to understand what’s happening. Also, he hopes that his passion for the sport and his excitement translates to the viewers and helps them to enjoy the race a bit more. “I get accused of shouting from time to time, which hurts a little. Trust me, I’m not shouting, but I do get very excited and what’s the harm in that? If I can’t get excited about some of the dramatic moments, how can I expect the audience at home to be excited too?” 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 refrain from any speculation. It is crucial, as the voice narrating the events, that he tells audiences what he knows, not to guess as to what he doesn’t know.
“It was our producer, with the aid of extra monitors in the gallery who told me that Romain was out of the fire and sitting talking to the medical team. That was when I could relay that to the viewers. Until then, we had no knowledge of Romains situation. But both Martin and I were well aware of what those watching with us were going through and how much of a shock a crash like that is.
I remember being a little more subdued at the restart and through the race, and a few days ago I was reminded of just how subdued I was as I watched the Romain episode on ‘Drive to Survive’. I was so proud of the way the whole Sky team covered that race, both in front of and behind the camera. We have a brilliant team of people and it’s days like that when I reminded of just how good they are.”
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, “I really like that track, we’ve had some terrific races there”. 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 some of the Monaco criticism from the fans. 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…”
“I remember the Rev Washbrook, he was the Methodist minister when I was a kid, lovely man but boy did his sermons go on for a long, long time. I remember asking him once whether he wrote them down in advance and he said he didn’t and that he was guided by the Lord when he walked up into the pulpit. Interesting, here was a man delivering an improv speech each and every Sunday to the faithful. Free styling. And whilst I wouldn’t say that I’m guided by the Lord, I’m not exactly writing a sermon on a Sunday either.
I’m quite a nervous person before a commentary. I swear if I had a dog in the commentary box with me I’d pat him so often he’d have a massive bald patch. But when the microphone goes live, something takes over, the nerves disappear and Martin and I have a chat for a couple of hours with a lot of people listening in.”
Crofty admits he must prepare adequately – that why all my notes are handwritten, it helps me remember them, 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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