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Hello,
I wanted to write in and make a complaint against David Croft who is the current Sky f1 lead commentator. Myself and my colleagues find him extremely unprofessional with his role. His painfully obvious personal biases are my biggest concern and stand out so much that it's the reason why we are planning to not renew.
I know from many of my friends and colleges they feel the same way and agree with my view on this, though they have never taken the time to write in and express it. I thought it would be be the best thing to do, to write in and get it out there that many fans that I personally know of, do feel this way regarding David Croft.
We have heard news that Sky's new owners are also not happy with him and have a replacement lined up. I'd like to encourage you and let you know we'd be delighted at this move and would happily be buying sky again next year if the that scenario passes.
If this is the wrong channel to express this complaint please accept my apologies for the inconvenience and forward to the right channel.
Sincerely
Mr. Hunt
![South African Broadcasting Corporation [SABC]](/images/business/48-48/120698/sabc-tv-licences.jpg){kind=small}
I find David Croft's F1 commentary too flighty and breathless. He actually crowds out my own perception of the racing by flapping around and crowing loudly. I must resort to the mute button.
Mr. Layton
Isn’t it time that sky got rid of David Croft when I watch the Grand Prix he’s a total motormouth and a gibbering idiot. He just talks rubbish for the sake of talking contradicts what he says if pulled up by another commentator and thinks he’s some fantastic stat man. Most of the stats are rubbish for instance when he quoted how much fuel it would take for a yacht to do a Grand Prix of Monaco the man is a joke also a bully. Why is it he seems to pick on Johnny Herbert about his size or his waist and constantly on at Anthony Davidson about being small he is nothing more than a bully probably was one as well when he was at school why don’t sky wake up got a fantastic team we see less of Ted Kravitz now but seem to hear and see more of the idiot please freshen it up let him just go back to his darts where is surrounded by men of his size not little people that he can abuse. And that’s without his stupid giggling.
I have not missed an f1 race in over 35 years and have heard all the commentators on various channels and David Croft is by far the worst.
He talks way too much, never uses one word where 10 or more will do. I am currently watching the Russian gp and have been timing the dead air from him on the stopwatch on my phone. I was going to share this with you at the end of the race but unfortunately I just stopped it accidentally. This means I can share my finding with you early.
To lap 49 there was precisely 1min and 48 seconds of clear air where I could hear the cars.
With engine noise a factor in current f1 it would be good to hear the engines at least once every 5 laps or so.
Ask him to stop blustering, flapping and making up stories.
Restrict him to only 1 statistic per race, tell him to just use driver surnames instead of giving a full name each time. Even that would give us some quiet time.
I was really saddened to hear that he was back this year and am hopeful to hear rumours of his exit in 2020.please be true.
Sky, you are the only live coverage at the moment, last year I would switch to ch4 just because of him. I would watch all the pre and post race stuff with Martin etc but as soon as the race statlrted I would switch.
Even on the other shows he busters, buts in and upsets the rhythm.
I don't want to see anyone lose their job but This man could make a snooker match sound like the grand national and I am tired of it.
Please switch it next year somehow.
I agree 100%
I totally agree and his shrill voice makes me want to switch off and I am an ardent F1 for more than sixty years
Christopher J Bradley
I started watching F1 Jochen Rindt was my favourite, no idea how long thats been but a fair time.
Just want to put you straight on a crucial point.
David Croft is and never will be the worst commentator F1 has ever had.
When James Hunt died we had to put up with Jonathan Palmer as a co commentator and he was complete rubbish.
Then when it moved to ITV we were lumbered with James Allen who is a very good journalist but as a commentator completely sucked.
Oh and we had Jim Rosenthal who unfortunately was a complete J arthur.
Never liked C4 commentator Ben Edwards who knew what he was talking about but unfortunately had a voice like nails scraping on a blackboard.
Previously he was on Eurosport and their back room team included John Watson now there is a guy who could drone for England and was completely up his own backside.
So no, i cant agree with most of the comments.
Could Crofty do a better job ? Sure he could and i will admit the shouting can be annoying but imo he has toned it down a bit and what worries the most is we would get another James Allen or Ben Edwards and that would suck.
Funny thing is i used to look forward to Ted’s notebooks but he now goes off subject so much and talks such gibberish about irrelevent things i have come to actually hate watching him.
So careful what you wish for as Crofty is far from being the worst we have ever had.
You could get Leigh Diffey now there is a guy who could break glass with his voice. (Indy car commentator)
Currently i would not miss Herbert or Paul di Resta or Ted Kravitz or the new south african girl but she may grow on me so i think i should give her a chance but currently she isnt winning my vote.
I cant really say why but her dress sense is way out there and personally as an expert, which she clearly is, i would prefer hearing her rather than seeing her as all i keep thinking is wtf are you wearing and not listening to her.
I personally would rather we had Ant Davidson or Karun or even Jenson stand in for Martin as PdR loves red bull far too much.
Davidson works for Merc yet does not ever give me the feeling he favours them when commentating.
Best year in my opinion was 2011 when the BBC had Jake as presenter and Martin and DC in the commentary box.
Of course we had to have Eddie Jordon and Johnny Herbert but i learnt to ignore them.
No adverts and 2 people who knew exactly what they were talking about, bliss but we only had it for one year.
Do us a favor and fire the entire F1 news coverage! A bunch of incompetent commentators. Thank you
I think the lot should go. they are ALL boring, tedious, ledgends in their own minds!. I just hate listening to all of them. And now we have kids giving 'their expert commentary and input'. For gods sake get someone with some character, knowledge and historical facts (like Murray Walker had). These bozos' are turning thousands away from F1, myself included.
I agree with all those to rid of Croft. He is and never was a driver but to listen to his banal commentary you would think he was equal to the other drivers who add positively to the show. Get rid of him.
Ray Worby.
The absolute worst characteristic of his commentary for me is not his inaccuracies and drivel, it's his persistent way of saying 'two thousand and twenty one'! FFS, it's twenty twenty one!😡
Please get rid of David Croft so we can watch F1 again. I have to constantly hit the mute button every time he starts screeching & screaming! Often I find myself just not watching due to him. All the other commentators are great.
Please get rid of David Croft. His screaming and screeching is keeping us from watching F1 unless full use of mute button.
I agree. I usually watch TV with volume level set to between 36 to 40. With his unnecessary screaming all the time when I am watching F1, I have to turn down the volume to the level 9 or my only left functioning ear will feel hurting from his screaming. I wish we could still hear the engine noise but his screaming made it impossible for us to enjoy.
I agree wholeheartedly that David ‘crofty’ Croft is an extremely annoying and unprofessional commentator. I love my F1 but find myself shouting vainly at the screen for Croft to shut up. His behaviour is like that of an annoying nine year old child with his pathetic puns and his giggling about his own juvenile ‘jokes’. He nis not in the same league as any of his colleagues on the team with respect to knowledge of his subject based on real experience but continually repeats the statements made by Brundle et al as if he is making some great revelation of his own when the conversation should really be moving on. Please eliminate him from the commentary team as soon as possible.
Please get rid of David Croft his incompetence is extremely frustrating.
During practice I don’t think he is aware there are cars on the track!
He needs to watch the F2 or F3 coverage, the commentary is about the cars on the track.
The Stupidity of some of his comments is embarrassing.
Please get rid of him
The man seemingly doesn't understand the average F1 viewer understands the sport, can discern what is happening on track, and doesn't need to be spoken to in every second of TV coverage; a little silence goes a long way and this guy is just plain obnoxious.
As an F1 fan of over 40 years, I would like to echo every word previously written about Crofty his constant shouting in every single broadcast completely spoils viewing, he also belittles other commentators who have actually driven in F1, his angle along with that of Paul Diresta is totally biased towards Red Bull, come on Sky you have some great commentators on that team, Martin Brundle, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, Ant Davidson, Jenson Button, Karun Chandock, Alex Brundle F2/3 they can create excitement without shouting and uttering banal comments and if you want knowledge with personality you give us more Ted Cravitz. We feel we are suffering Shouty, Scotty and Simon give us £18.99 per month of decent commentary PLEASE!
I've never watched a sport where I felt I could do a better job than the lead commentator. His incompetence is in such blatant misalignment with the quality and precision of F1. All my friends agree. Unfortunately I will not renew if he stays on.
David Croft is a disaster. If i could watch live F1 on another channel I most certainly would to avoid the distractions caused by Croft’s inane schoolboy “humour” and his constant repetition of Brundle’s comments as if they were his own. With the raft of knowledgeable ex drivers on the team who have been in the commentary business for many years Croft is rendered an unnecessary annoyance. Please let him move on to comment on curling or bowls. Maybe that might calm him down a bit.
Apart from Martin B and Karun C- F1 commentators are really poor. I would much prefer to watch on C4, but they only have the rights to one live event/silverstone.
I refuse to pay sky any money also dislike Brundle Simon and Crofty. Channel 4 is a lot less smug and pompous.
Simply dumbfounded how David Croft is an F1 announcer, and even more dumbfounded he's lasted this long. I can only assume whoever hired him, doesn't watch F1...
I've watched just about every conceivable motorsport over the last 30 years (F1 for ~15 years), and listened to COUNTLESS announcers, and though there are always some that are better than others, and some you like more than others, in that 30 years, I can honestly say there were only TWO, that I thought were SO bad, I felt a need to complain.
The other was Rick DeBruhl, who covered F1 for 1 year in the States on Speed Channel after Bob Varsha left. He too, was SO bad, and had SO many complaints, Speed Channel did the right thing and let him go after one season.
I would take Rick DeBruhl in a heartbeat over David Croft... And that's saying something...
There are a dozen things I could [censored] about, but I'll just stick to just the shouting. OMG, the SHOUTING! It never matches the onscreen action, and it's simply OBNOXIOUS! I mean, the guy sounds like he's going to have a stroke just giving the starting positions.
I got in the habit of muting the sound for the first 2 laps, because it takes that long for him to settle down for even the most routine starts (and re-starts). Then I tried hitting the mute button every time he opened his mouth, but it was just too tedious. Now, honestly, and this is no BS, I just mute the entire race & listen to music... That is no way to watch F1... I no longer watch practice, and mute Qualifying as well...
I think the rest of the Sky team is FANTASTIC! Every one of them! It's staggering how one man can drag an A+ broadcast down to an F, and I give it an F because he single-handedly makes it virtually unwatchable.
David Croft would probably make for a good news anchor, or auctioneer, or better yet, calling Horse Racing, but one thing is FOR SURE: he has ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS CALLING F1 RACES. NONE!
He is, by far, the WORST announcer I've ever heard in 30 years of watching motorsport. He's the ONLY one I've ever had to mute the entire broadcast...
Just about everyone I know in the States has stopped watching F1 because they just can't stand David Croft. Most just watch the highlights now...
I can only imagine how much more of an audience they would gain if they dumped David Croft. I mean, if die-hard F1 fans can't watch the broadcast, how many casual viewers watch more than a race or two?
Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, and Formula 1 deserves better than David Croft!
David Croft spoils the coverage, if it's not telling us what he had for breakfast, it's some childish pun. Constantly calls the wrong car, shouts to the point where I have to hit mute, starts are a mess he gets so tangled over himself, I'm surprised and amazed he has been employed so long. You have a wealth of talent employed who could do better, or even keep Martin as an anchor and revolve the other commentators.
David, is so baised, that his head is always up Lewis [censored]… and always keeps phrasing as the goat! While nearly all people know that he is definitely over the top since we seeing him making mistakes and not being that consistent any more since last year! And this while he had the best car of the field.
Further I find it a same that F1/ pro use’s nearly only English commentators” it nearly looks like a typical inbreed that are. Therefore Al lot of people around the world get fed up with F1 in the future.
So like Lewis is saying (but not in this case) we need more diversity of reporters of different country’s regarding the F1 coverage
SKY Sports F1 commentators are getting worse by the race. They are so so biased towards Lewis Hamilton when his teammate (BRITISH DRIVER) George Russell hardly ever gets a mention. George is beating Lewis in virtually very session of every race and all the commentators say is how the car has been letting Lewis down or how unlucky he is! Its an absolute joke how biased the commentators are and makes me turn over the channels now or even just watch the free highlights on CH4 who are 100 times better than SKY. Sky F1 commentators are Children trying to be comical when there’s no action on track as they have zero other knowledge of what’s going on unless its before their eyes.
Really doubt I will renew in December when my contract runs out. would just cancel F1 now if I could although Ive loved the sport over 40 yrs! SKY commentators are terrible, Please Please REPLACE THEM!
Crofty is the only reason I still pay for F1TV after they removed the other best part about it, the pit lane channel. His commentary is so off putting I cant even watch the practice recaps because as soon as I hear his voice I get upset. Please for the love of god get an actual racing driver who knows what he is talking about instead of this sensationalized monkey.
Amen; he is awful and unwatchable. Rachel Brooks is ten times better, and any of the remaining roster could easily do a better job. He is obnoxious, loud, uninformed, and politically biased. PLEASE replace him.
Please remove David Croft, NOW.
His whinging pom routine at the at the start of the Monaco GP jus past was infuriating and the last straw for me, I turned off the race and did not watch.
Prior to this race, his overreactions, shouting, constant talking and completely incorrect information have caused me to have to watch the F1 on mute, yes that's right, F1 without the sound at times during every race for the last 10 years.
His commentary and obnoxious demeanor is infuriating, especially when you know there are ex F1 drivers who are now commentators, who could easily take his place and do a way better job with ease and a pleasing result.
Do it Sky Sports, employ someone who is at the least not a whinging bloody pom and who has a race background, for your viewers who pay you.
I now prefer Indycar. Better unbiased commentary and none of the David Croft speech impediments. Hardly ever an ER unlike David Croft who says ER all the time, all race. How can someone with this issue get that job. The over use of stats is unimpressive. His F1 knowledge is limited to the stats. Loving Indycar after watching F1 since 80's but now switching off.
Yes, I am watching him now and he is really annoying and talks rubbish. No one wants to go near him as he wanders around!
Complete idiot.
You'd have to have a low 2 figure IQ not to be able to work out that verstappen final qualifying lap hadn't been compromised by leclercs spin.
Why couldn't Croft?
Please replace this imbecile.
I have to agree with the previous comments that croft is very unprofessional and far too dramatic with the way that he announces the race. I have to hit mute at the start and any time someone makes a move on another competitor. He is just absolutely unbearably obnoxious, possibly the worst I have ever had the misfortune of hearing in my some 30 years of watching f1. Please help us all and get a replacement. Thanks Daniel
Ghannel four FI commentators are so much better than Skys are,.
Yes and they aren't that good!
I agree with the comments about David Croft but love Martin Brundle why can't we have two ex drivers.
David Croft is just a want to be.
Please another driver
Please replace all of them , they only support Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton and little bit of George Russel , McLaren is a British team and they don’t even mention this team for 10sec on Air , I don’t even want to talk about their hatred towards RB and Max Verstappen .
YES PLEASE replace ALL of them. Murray Walker MUST be turning in his grave at this bunch of half wits that don't have an ounce of tallent between them!
I agree with the comments about Croft. Gets overexcited over nothing ie makes a big fuss over DRS train as its very exciting.
Just tried to watch FP1 practice from Moza. WTH? Major snore fest. Just what were the commentators rambling on about? Can just about stand Chandhok but as for the rest just wittering on about nothing of any interest. It's bad enough that MB is covering fewer races but if this is the way forward than I shall be cancelling F1 and going to CH4.
Oh, for the days of James Hunt and Murray Walker
Its bad enough the Jack Burnicle has been moved from BSB and WSB but this is getting worse.
MMMMM... Murray Walker - NOW YOUR TALKING. A really profesional and GENUINE Commentator, full of historic facts, knew everything about the teams, drivers, circuits, engines, KNEW when to talk and not to talk, and missed so much by many F1 fans around the world. Cannot think of one commentor that comes close to even polish his boots. Compairing Murray with todays commentators is like compairing a diamond to a piece of dirt - nowhere close!
Have to turn the sound off on the Sky F1 commentary when David Croft is commentating. His babbling and girl like shrieking when things get interesting are so nauseous !
I agree. David Croft is a terrible commentator. His incessant incoherent babbling drives me nuts. He needs to be dumped as soon as possible.
I offer two anecdotes.
1. Speak only if what you have to off will improve the silence.
2. Remain silent and be though a fool or speak up and remove all possible doubt.
David Croft fails on both counts. Please Sky, get rid of David Croft. Leave the commentating to peolpe who actually know what they are talking about.
As an American in Thailand and an F1 fan of more than 50 years I have to say that I find David Croft to be about the worst commentator in any televised sport; unprofessional without a consistent focus on the session at hand, biased in favor of any British driver, coupled with childish jokes make watching every race a total pain. Add to that Karoon Chandok and Anthony Davidson being in love with their own voices and what should be a most enjoyable Friday to Sunday becomes quite unenjoyable.
Finally, using the Sky Sports broadcast subjects all of us in Asia to have to put up with Sky commentary without seeing the referenced acivities.
When will F1 have it's own, dedicated, multi-lingual broadcast teams? As it is, the most advanced, exciting motorsports events are supported by a bunch of amateurs for the broadcasts.
On a positive note, thank you to Jenson Button, Paul di Resta, Martin Brundle and Ted Kravitz for making the broadcasts less frustrating.
Having watched F1 for decades I can only resoundly endorse all of the complaints made regarding David Croft. It’s now becoming such an unpleasant experience having to listen to his biased, puerile word salad that I watch races with the volume off. He’s commentary is slow, bumbling, shrieking, and biased against all drivers who are not English (the love affair with Lewis H & Lando N is ridiculous) whilst his disdain for Max V is obvious and cringey. There are so many ex drivers who would be great to have on the commentary team who would do a better job than that babbling fool. With MB seemingly commentating less these days it’s not looking good.
Yes volume off with Croft.
I was SO happy to find this site. I thought I was alone in my opinion of Sky F1 and their total bias to Hamilton. I'm sick of it and yet Lazenby dares to call them neutrals! Delusional or what! Herbert, Croft, Hill and Kravitrz all need to go. They worship onky Lewis and dare to criticize RB and Max who is such a worthy 2 x world champion. What really infuriates me is they assume we feel the same as they do. Mclaren and Willliams are British teams but all we hear about his Hamilton and his German team! Therefore, their bias isn't even pro British. I would cancel on a heartbeat if only it was shown live on C4.
You are correct, why does Crofty hate Lewis. He talks about Max but when talking about Lewis it is Hamilton. Hate listening to him, he actually spoils the enjoyment of F1
Why complain when there is no real review, we just see resolved! Sky F1 has the monopoly on coverage of the sport, so us as fans have NO OPTION when it comes to coverage.
Your complaint section needs a complaint against how it resolves bias in its commentators.
Hope Netflix shows a more “real” F1 experience to the fans. Hope your getting paid enough #sad
If you aren't going to fire and replace the drama queen David Croft, then AT LEAST tell the pathetic, babbling idiot to stop yelling into his microphone.
Dump Croft, he is painful to listen to just rambling & interrupting good racing.
For me, sport is about atmosphere. I want to hear the cars and listen to the crowd at exciting moments.
I don't want to hear a commentator talking literally non stop and actually raising his voice above the crowd with words of wisdom like 'just listen to the crowd!'
Croft has ruined F1 for me these last year's, I can't even escape in F1 games. The term Motormouth is not unkind. Also, he keeps trying to inject false excitement at the wrong times.
I could go on with other irritations but they have all been said in the comments here.
I want to make a suggestion - could the possibility of having a choice of what commentary / commentator you want to listen to be an option? None being an option too.
Also to give Crofty some credit he would probably make a very good radio commentator.