Sky F1 commentary team
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What’s your thoughts?
This weekend’s race saw Paul DiResta stand in for Martin Brundle for qualy and race and it was a very nice surprise. Fast and informative.
I really cannot stand Crofty. He talks like a fair ground auctioneer! Its like he got a chronic case of verbal diarrhea.
Ted is good, but he comes across a bit smug at the best of times. I guess he reminds a bit of Richard Keys for whatever reason..:)
If they replace Crofty with Ben Edwards, I’d be happy. I still maintain that James Allen is the best post Murray Walker F1 (English)commentator, I’m sure he’d jump at the chance!
Finally, I somehow feel that Johnny Herbert never quite knows why he’s on the show most weekend!
Good to know it wasn’t just me who enjoyed having PDR on, I too found it a pleasure to listen to him. Ditto for Karun when he made an appearance. I did not mute the audio on race day purely due to PDR being on.
Crofty the auctioneer is an apt description, and like Jay above, I prefer Ben Edwards to Crofty (in India we used to get C4 commentary until and including last year).
Brundle is someone who has changed. Some years ago, I enjoyed listening to him since his punditry was excellent, and he was a voice of measured reason. More recently, however, it sounds like he’s having to also shout to keep up with Crofty, and it’s not as nice. His grid walks are fun, though!
Good point about Johnny Herbert – I always felt that he was a bit of a hanger-on. No disrespect to the man – he’s done his share of racing – but what does he exactly contribute? A handful of observations and some guffaws? But hey, if Sky were willing to pay me for that, I too wouldn’t be complaining!
it’s odd how far my opinion of David Croft has fallen in the past few years. back in the BBC days when the woeful Legard was the TV lead, his radio commentary with Ant Davidson seemed wonderful.
but since moving to Sky he’s just become increasingly cliched and grating. He sounds like he’s constantly telling a joke but never getting to the punchline. I much prefer Ben Edwards on C4 (totally humourless but sounds like he is at least taking it seriously) or Jake Nicholls on BBC radio (funny and easy chemistry with whoever he gets paired with, but still knows what he’s talking about).
Brundell – I really feel like he’s been doing this too long and often sounds like he’s going through the motions, especially when he’s calling yet another dull procession. I thought di Resta was dull as dirt when he first started deputising for Brundle, but he has improved a lot recently.
What is the obsession with Ted Kravitz? when he disappeared at the start of this season people on social media were talking like it was the biggest scandal in the world. he does an ok job, but I think Karun is just as good and brings a lot more energy and enthusiasm to the role.
Sounds like I’m alone in thinking Johnny Herbert is great on TV – he’s a naturally funny person and really helps lighten things up when he’s included. he’s good on commentary too with F2 and practice sessions.
i haven’t really watched much Sky build-up TV this year, so can’t comment much on that.
I found James Allen quite poor, and his unashamed bias was very grating.
Croft is Ok, but not detailed enough, which is why it was so nice with DiResta talking about lap times and picking up on the finer points now. About shouting Murray’s squealing was almost comical and Edwards has done his share of screaming too.
Agree Chandok is much better at tech than Kravitz, but it didn’t take much as Ted didn’t even know F1 engines had spark plugs.
The “Crofty”/Brundle/Kravitz/Herbert comedy team don’t appeal to me. They sound like a 1960’s Radio 1 DJ team – remember Smashie and Nicey from the Fast Show? I don’t want to hear about who ate a hard boiled egg on the plane, or whose son knows how to do what latest dance. They embarrass me. “Crofty” is the worst, he just witters on and on about what’s on screen but adds nothing that we can’t see for ourselves – and sometimes subtracts from it as he tries to work out the obvious. Brundle looks and sounds stressed and worried, and who wouldn’t be if they had to spend that much time with “Crofty”. Kravitz is a poor man’s Chandhok and again looks and sounds embarrassing when he joins in the “Crofty” banter. Ant Davidson can be good, but he allows himself to get sucked into the silly matey routine which lowers his credibility.
What really annoys me is “Crofty” and Brundle commentate as if they’ve never seen a F1 race ever before in their lives. They’ve got to be smarter than they sound, so why are they dumbing it down for the viewers?
On C4, Ben Edwards is so perfect you’re not really aware he’s there most of the time – he adds value to what’s on the screen and isn’t silly or hyper; when he gets excited it’s because something exciting is happening. I think he and David Coulthard work really well together, analysing the action and strategy, and I thought Mark Webber did really well standing in for Coulthard this weekend. Not quite as smooth, but then Coulthard wasn’t smooth to start with and only really grew into the role after Brundle left the team. Which is weird because he’s a very quick thinker and very funny off-air.
Paul Di Resta is a breath of fresh air on the Sky team, as is Karun Chandhok and all the others who don’t get drawn into the matey blokey banter routine but focus on the sport. I’m not watching it for a Sunday Night at the London Palladium routine, I’m watching it because I’m fascinated by the strategy and the technology, as well as the rivalry. Having said that, I enjoy the more sophisticated humour on C4 before and after the race; it feels classy and doesn’t make me cringe.
I always watch the C4 highlights too, because the C4 team are capable of observing, analysing and commenting in real time, and show an understanding of what the strategy might be. The race might have been long-gone by that time, but I value what they have to say.
So, yeah, basically a long-winded agreement to what’s been said before. PdR is knowledgeable and has grown in confidence and seems able to filter out the irritating Crofty buzz in the commentary box.
I already posted in the similar thread of who are your favourite Motorsport commentators:
https://www.racefans.net/groups/not-f1/forum/topic/who-are-your-favourite-motor-sport-commentators/But essentially…
Croft is an enigma. I actually used to like him when he did the BBC radio 5 live coverage, but he simply does not translate to TV. A good TV commentator is “somebody who improves what you are watching”.Radio is more descriptive as you have no pictures, but TV commentary only needs to compliment the pictures.
Croft does not. He overrides the pictures, opten with conflicting (often wrong) information. Very frustrating.I too have had enough of Brundell for commentary, but he is still good at interviews. PDR is much better (Coulthard would be better still, but impossible while Ch4 are still in the game).
Also slightly different point, but I can’t stand Simon Lazenby. He seems so 1 dimensional and it feels like he is the leader of the really awkward lads club. I don’t rate him as an anchor. Jake Humphreys or Steve Jones are both better in my view.
Agree on the Johnny Herbert disappointment. Also for some reason to me he doesn’t sound right on the F2 commentary. I didn’t believe it was him at first!
As much as I think Ted Kravitz is a fun guy, he’s beginning to seriously grate. Hardly an interesting point to bring to the table, but a lot errors and even blunders practically every race. He really needs replacing now. There’s a limit.
I watch F1TV and in Hungary now, the usual SKY commentary team with Croft was not on at the start of the race, instead it was F1TV’s team led byt Rosanna Tennant. Although she was completely out of her depth as a race commentator, I thought Sam Collins was quite decent on tech and easy to listen so he could replace Kravitz IMO.
@balue I remember reading on Twitter that F1TV had a problem at the start, that’s probably the reason behind the alternative commetary.
Does anyone know whether Martin Brundle is gradually stopping? I know he traditionally misses one or two races a year for a break, but this year he seems to have missed about a third of them. It would be a real shame if so. Nico Rosberg seems to have been the best stand-in to me (out of him, Jenson Button and Paul di Resta). Annoyingly, Brundle really makes the commentary for me as while I do kind of like David Croft, I find him too “matey” and really wish he’d find more varied descriptive phrases to shout instead of “wheel to wheel” and “down the inside”.
As for the supporting act, I don’t get what the world seems to see in Ted Kravitz… Karun Chandhok is much better and to the point, without waffling half-attempts at jokes. I also think Natalie Pinkham is more natural Formula One presenter than Simon Lazenby, so it’s good to see them sharing the role this year.
Anyway… they all do a much better job than I could! Easy to whinge from a comfy chair at home!
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