DAVID CROFT INTERVIEW: Iconic F1 commentator prepares to mark his 400th Grand Prix at Silverstone – and gives his verdict on whether Lewis Hamilton can win a record eighth drivers’ title

David Croft is revving up for his 400th Formula One Grand Prix this weekend and is as giddy as a boy attending his first.

‘It’s the best race of the season,’ says the commentator, lounging on a sofa as he looks ahead to Silverstone. ‘I absolutely love it.  

‘It’s the best sport. If we could talk about F1 for the rest of our lives, I’d be the happiest man on the planet.’ 

‘Crofty’, as he is known, has led Sky Sports’ coverage since 2012 and accompanied viewers for all the major moments and storylines: Lewis Hamilton clinching his seventh title, Max Verstappen denying the Brit an eighth, Jules Bianchi’s devastating death, Romain Grosjean’s lucky escape. 

It comes with its burdens, but he is granted a closeness to the sport and its personalities that fans can only dream of. 

‘I haven’t got Lewis on speed dial, or Max for that matter,’ he says. ‘But I talk to as many drivers as I can at the track and at events. We get to have some really cool conversations – but they’ll remain private!

He prepared for the upcoming Silverstone GP by commentating on a foot race around the circuit in partnership with Gatorade

‘When I first met Kimi [Antonelli], Kimi knew who I was, and obviously I knew who Kimi was. I didn’t expect him to know who I was. I’m just a commentator, but I was the voice he grew up with.’

Croft has been preparing for Silverstone in unorthodox fashion. On Thursday morning, he was up at the crack of dawn to commentate on 300 people running around the track. Not the most high-octane action the circuit will see, admittedly, though one person completed the course in around 21 minutes – only around 14 times slower than an F1 car. Not bad going. 

‘I’ve run here before and it was not a 21-minute lap!’ he quips. ‘It was a load of fun.’

The run was organised in association with the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI). Gatorade are partnered with Mercedes as well as the F1 Academy and provide hydration research and advice. For Mercedes’ stars George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, they provide tailored hydration based on the drivers’ sweat composition. 

In short, different people lose a different concentration of minerals when they sweat – be that varying amounts of sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium or calcium – and Gatorade’s job is to make sure the drivers are precisely topped up in a cockpit where temperatures can exceed 60C. Even a small level of dehydration can have an impact physically and cognitively. 

Croft isn’t quite subject to the same pressures, but Daily Mail Sport puts it to him that, in some respects, he is an athlete too. 

‘I’ve never thought about it like that but you’re not wrong to be fair!’ he says. ‘Commentary boxes get hot. I take three bottles of water, well, three paper castles of water – we’ve done away with the plastic – and I’ll sometimes have a can of fizzy drink as well. 

‘George won the Austrian Grand Prix, the hottest race of the year, with his drinks system not working. One of the toughest things about F1 is that your brain starts to get tired – I remember talking about this to Nico Rosberg once. 

‘Nico used to walk on a treadmill on an incline really fast, and then he’d play seven hands of poker at the same time to keep his brain active. I don’t think he actually invested any money! But you need your brain and your body to be working in tandem.’

‘Lewis [Hamilton] will win more races this year,’ says Croft. ‘Will he win a championship? I don’t know’

‘I haven’t got Lewis on speed dial, or Max [Verstappen] for that matter,’ he explains

We approach Sunday’s race with plenty of hope for the British drivers, who occupy three of the top five spots in the Drivers’ Championship: Russell in second, Hamilton third, and Lando Norris fifth. 

Hamilton is gunning for a record-extending 10th victory at his home track and is looking in good shape to do so after topping practice and all three segments of Sprint Qualifying.

After finally claiming his first win with Ferrari at Barcelona in June, talk is rising that Hamilton could make a bid for a record eighth Drivers’ Championship – and he has told Sky Sports that he ‘won’t stop’ until he gets there. 

‘Lewis will win more races this year, I’m convinced of that,’ says Croft. ‘Will he win a championship? I don’t know.

‘I don’t know if the Ferrari is the class of the field, as an engine, chassis, and aero package, or whether they’ve just got a good chassis and the engine is lacking. Austria was disappointing in terms of the tyre wear and the pace.

‘I think Hamilton prefers these cars, that’s for sure.

‘Having been at Ferrari for a year and having had influence over the design of this car, it’s more to his liking. He’s worked with Loic Serra before at Mercedes and that’s a key partnership. Carlo Santi, his race engineer, seems to be bonding really well with him.’

We could talk for hours, but Croft is a busy man. He’s got a production meeting to get to ahead of another hectic weekend. 

Croft started out on F1 at BBC Radio 5 Live and moved to Sky Sports in 2012 

The 56-year-old has been in the F1 game for two decades now, having started out on the tour with BBC Radio 5 Live before his move to Sky. Throughout our interview he has come across exactly the same as he does on broadcast: funny, friendly, and brimming with enthusiasm. His ethos is to act as if he is having a conversation with one person rather than millions. He says his approach has hardly changed, despite the shifting sands of the world and the F1 landscape. 

‘Martin [Brundle] and I have always been very aware that not everyone who invites us into their living room on a Sunday knows as much as the biggest fans. We try not to overcomplicate it. We keep it simple. If we use phrases people don’t understand, we explain it,’ he says. 

‘I want F1 to be a sport that everyone can love.’