Formula One, Melbourne GP: Sky Sports’ David Croft on Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo
Formula One heads to Las Vegas in 2023 meaning the USA has three races on the calendar. The sport’s exploding popularity means its high time Melbourne was joined by another Aussie city.
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Few people know the ins and outs of Formula One quite like Sky Sports expert David Croft, but as the countdown to the Melbourne Grand Prix begins the man they call “Crofty” chats with Todd Balym about the re-emergence of Ferrari, a rejuvenated former world champ and the future of F1.
Q: Welcome back to Australia, we’ve had two events in the Formula One series and it’s looking like a two-horse race between Ferrari and Red Bull?
Croft: Yeah you say that but we’ve only had two of 23 races, we’re not even at 10 per cent of the season yet to be fair. They have started the better, of that there is no doubt. I love the fact the two cars seem to have different strengths and Ferrari have very much taken the fight to Red Bull. Mercedes I think will be there or thereabouts eventually, but nothing is a quick fix with these new regulations and Mercedes are finding that out. I’m sure back at Brackley they’ve taken a deep dive into exactly what is wrong with their car and they will get a handle on it. But it will take a few races.
I spoke to some aerodynamicists before the start of the season and they said we’re in the past we could add wings, add turning veins, winglets here and there, we can’t do that now. It’s a whole change of philosophy really to put things right and that is a problem that Mercedes find themselves in. It is going to take a few races.
Now how many races is anyone’s guess, but I would imagine by the time we get to the start of the European season then they will be an awful lot closer to Red Bull and the two Ferraris, assuming of course they don’t make strides and development gains themselves because at the start of new regulations you often find you can make massive gains in a relatively short space of time because the regulations are so new and everything is a massive learning experience.
Q: How is Lewis Hamilton coping with his tough start to the year, I see he’s admitted on Instagram that he is struggling a bit mentally at the moment. Do you feel like he is still weighed down at all by how last year ended?
Croft: I don’t think he is weighed down by how last year ended, he has said himself he would like to move on from that and he has come back fit, refreshed and raring to go. And whilst the back end of last year was a massive disappointment for him I will take him on his word for that and I hope that’s very much the case because with any high profile athlete, you know what is done is done and you can’t change that.
You have to look to the future and Lewis has been very good at that. He has been very good in his career using adversity as it were as a spur and as a help to go out and score some brilliant results. Look at Brazil last year when the engine penalty and he had that technical infringement as well and was pretty much relegated to the back of the grid for the sprint race and he came through to win the Grand Prix.
I am sure everything isn’t perfect in Lewis’s life, as it is with anyone really, who has got the perfect life in this world. I am sure when it comes to the weekend at a racetrack and focusing on the job at hand there is no lack of motivation, no lack of application and there is certainly no lack of talent and Lewis will come good in the end. But any driver is only as good as their car and at the moment, Mercedes is probably the third best car on the grid and that is the state of affairs that the eight-time consecutive constructors champions find themselves in.
Q: One story I saw after last year was Lewis potentially moving to Hollywood, as someone who has known him for a while, do you actually see him moving into that sort of life in the future?
Croft: Who knows what Lewis Hamilton will do with his life when he finally gives up racing. If he ends up in Hollywood, brilliant, good for him. He is a very talented human being who could end up doing a number of things, be it music, be it fashion, be it Hollywood and the story of Lewis’s life.
I mean who would play Lewis Hamilton, I am sure there would be a whole lot of actors queuing up for that particular role, although I wouldn’t like to guess I am not a casting agent. I don’t think that is the place he is in at the moment, I think the place he is in at the moment is wanting to win back that world championship again.
He won’t want what happened in Abu Dhabi last year to define him as a Formula 1 driver and Formula 1 champion and arguably the greatest F1 driver of all-time. He will want to go out on a high and I dare say that he will because what Lewis Hamilton wants to achieve in his life and has set out to achieve he has invariably gone out and achieved just that.
Q: He was pretty vocal about racing in Saudi Arabia last week, you were there, how close were the drivers to not racing at all and walking away from that event?
Croft: I wasn’t in the room and I could only go by the conversations I had after the drivers’ meeting but the way I look at it the drivers’ wanted assurances they were safe. And they got those assurances in whatever way they came and I don’t know exactly what was said to the drivers. I don’t think they were bullied into it and I certainly don’t think they were forced into it, but what they asked for was a clarification of what the security arrangements were and they were told. And they were told things that can’t be repeated outside that room because it’s security and security issues and those sort of things don’t come to light.
I definitely think there was a collective thought amongst the drivers that until they got those assurances and those guarantees they would be safe they weren’t necessarily in the right frame of mind to go racing. And I don’t think you can blame them for that whatsoever. We travel around the world and it is a very rare occurrence that what happened in Saudi Arabia happens. It was a worry for everybody on the ground. Now in saying that, from what I saw in Jeddah life continued as normal and nobody I spoke to who lives in Jeddah, worked in Jeddah and was a local in Jeddah thought it anything necessarily out of the ordinary that is the way life is in that part of the world and those attacks do happen.
It is not something that happens in the UK, it’s not something that happens in a lot of countries around the world but it does happen and the drivers just wanted assurances and they wanted guarantees. I didn’t necessarily feel unsafe personally, people were going about their business and doing what they normally do on a weekend in Jeddah. I put my trust in the Formula One authorities and my trust in the security arrangements that had been made that we would be safe and that is exactly what happened.
Q: Speaking of big events, massive news with Las Vegas 2023. How big an event will that be in the biggest party town in the world?
Croft: There is something right isn’t there about Formula One and Vegas finally getting together for a long term deal. We’ve raced in Vegas before, but the carpark at Caesars Palace was not what we’re going to experience from next year onwards. It is absolutely massive news and I’m pleased about it because I’ve witnessed the growth of Formula One in America where there has long been a small but very loyal audience for Formula One but it is an audience that is growing. Drive to Survive has certainly helped that. The Haas team with an American ownership has certainly helped that and more races in the time zone that suits American race fans is definitely helping that. Miami is going to be an amazing race, I love Austin as a city, I love Austin as a racetrack, we’ve had some amazing races there and last year was a brilliant celebration for American fans.
Some may argue that should Vegas come at a cost of more traditional races, but things have to expand. It’s right to say Formula One has to follow the money. It has done for many many years and if the likes of Germany can’t afford to host a race in this current climate, as sad as that is that is the harsh realities of hosting Formula One races. Vegas can, Vegas will put on a spectacle. It will be high speed, high speed high stakes on the Vegas strip. I just think brilliant, let’s go for it. It will be another night race, 10pm start in Vegas so we better all have a lie in on the Saturday morning.
It’s a Saturday race as well which is not a bad thing, there are audiences around the world and here in Australia, you know what it’s like you have to get up at some very anti-social times to watch their Formula One. That won’t be the case with a Vegas race, you’ll be able to enjoy it on a Sunday morning. We must also not forget, as much as the traditional home of this world championship are the classic European races, it is a world championship and it is right to go around the world. In saying that we don’t race on the African continent and I would like to see that eventually as well. Then we will properly have a Formula One world championship. But yeah, Vegas baby. Bring it on, I can’t wait. Are you going to come?
Q: I’ve already put my hand up saying if there’s a junket going I want that one.
Croft: Haha, junket? Remember it’s vocation not vacation.
Q: If you were planning another street race anywhere, where would crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge come in as a possibility. I think Mark Webber drove a Formula One car on the Harbour Bridge, but a race there would be something else?
Croft: Yeah that would be fantastic wouldn’t it, but I’ve got to be very careful about what I say here because I love Albert Park. I love Melbourne and I think the festival that is the Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne, the celebration of motorsport that is that weekend, I wouldn’t want to see that disappear. In saying that, if there’s room on the calendar for a second race in Australia let’s go across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. What an amazing sight that would be showing Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen going wheel to wheel across the Sydney Harbour Bridge – utterly fantastic. I would love to see that, but not at the expense of Albert Park please. I don’t to see that race stop there.
Q: Who on the grid is the most popular or easiest driver to deal with?
Croft: Haha, we’re really lucky in Formula One that all the drivers are always good value to talk to. For years people said, Kimi Raikkonen, how could you interview Kimi Raikkonen. Easy, find a subject Kimi wants to talk about and he will talk about it. Talk about tyres Kimi is not really very interested in tyres, you can’t blame him on that one to be fair. We have an affinity as British broadcasters with the likes of George, Lando and Lewis at British racing drivers but Danny Ric (Ricciardo) is always brilliant value for a chat. I can’t really pick one out that is the most popular because they’re all very willing to give their time and to say hello and stop and chat and I love that about the sport. I have many friends in the world of sports journalism who talk sometimes about some of the people, athletes and sports stars they have to interview and I count my lucky stars that I work in Formula One because they’re all great. But you know what, I will say Danny Ric on this occasion because we’re here in Australia and Danny Ric always gives you something a little bit extra.
Q: Has there ever been someone really prickly and then they retire you think ‘oh thank god he is gone so I don’t have to deal with him again’?
Croft: Hahahaha, Nelson Piquet Junior wasn’t the easiest to interview. He didn’t last long. But I think he was nervous and a bit overawed by the situation when he first came into Formula One. There has never been an F1 driver that I have interviewed in my now 16th season in the sport that I’ve thought ‘I don’t ever want to talk to you again.’ I thank my lucky stars on that one. They are just great people to hang around. I’ve never had an interview that’s gone necessarily wrong or has been that prickly, no, that is the lucky thing about F1 there is respect on both sides.
Q: Tell me about Tuesday night, you and Martin Brundle on stage, nothing off limits?
Croft: Martin and I talk to people a lot throughout the course of the year and various seasons, we’ve been together as a commentary pairing now since 2012 and we thought you know what let’s go on stage. Let’s start the Australian week off in a bit of style and do some live chat with fans. We will chat a bit about our careers, me as a commentator and Martin as one of the great racing drivers. To me he has always been a great racing driver, he just never necessarily had the luck in Formula One to go and win races and world championships. Of course he did that in sports cars. We thought we’d tell a few stories of our times on the road and then the second half nothing is off limits, you can talk about whatever you want to talk about. We’ve called it ask Crofty, because ask Crofty and ask Martin is just too much of a mouthful quite frankly. We will be answering some questions, having some fun and starting the week off in the best possible style so come down to the Plenery. I wanted to say I wanted to title it ‘I don’t want to be lonely on stage tour’ but that just sounded like we were begging for people to come along. I don’t want to be lonely on stage quite frankly. We thought it would be lovely to see the audience and interact properly with the audience. Every single weekend people invite us into their homes and that is a privilege to be invited into their homes to commentate on a sport we all love. We thought we would invite people along for a reasonable ticket price, I hope it’s a reasonable ticket price, people can come and have some fun. That is the Plenery, Melbourne Convention Centre, Tuesday April 5. Be there or we will be lonely.
Q: Lastly, this is a chance to fire the first shot in a stitch up on Martin, anything you can to say about him or razz him up before he gets on stage. Set the tone early.
Croft: Set the tone early, no, all I would say is as nothing is off limits I will probably tell the story of Spa last year where if you remember Spa last year, the race that wasn’t a race, it absolutely chucked it down. It did not stop raining. We were on air for about four hours and we kind of knew there wasn’t going to be much in the way of action but we had to stay commentating so we had to talk through and I will tell the story of how Martin started off in jeans and a shirt and ended the commentary in his full wet weather motorcycle gear. And not once did he break off from commentary. I will leave that one with you, the Martin Brundle quick change slow change act in the commentary box. I mean seriously, there were times I am thinking I have known you a long time but I didn’t realise it would get down to this.
* Sky Sports experts David Croft and Martin Brundle will appear at The Plenary, Melbourne Convention Centre, on Tuesday night for “Ask Crofty”. Tickets available from Ticketek.
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