David Croft has been the lead commentator for Sky Sports in Formula 1 since 2012. He has been in the box to call some of the most iconic races of the modern era, and is the voice of F1 in most English speaking countries. Among fans, he is one of the most popular figures in the sport.
Croft has met with and called races for some of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. However, there are three drivers who stand out for him as the best of all time. He shared these names during an online podcast, where the host asked him to name who he thinks are the three all-time greats in the sport.
Seen Michael Schumacher win plenty of great battles in his career this, the most important of all. Like all in F1, praying he pulls through
— David Croft (@CroftyF1) December 29, 2013
One would’ve expected Croft to name 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher or 3-time world champion Ayrton Senna in his list. However, to many people’s surprise, he snubbed those names and replaced them with two others.
Also read: Nico Rosberg Once Had To Remind a Journalist That He is F1 World Champion
David Croft reveals his three best F1 drivers of all time
The first name Croft took was that of the late great Ferrari legend, Niki Lauda. The Austrian is a three-time world champion who won two titles with Ferrari and one with McLaren. Croft revealed that ‘it was a pleasure’ for him to sit and have a chat with Lauda when they first met.
The next name taken by the Sky Sports commentator was that of Lewis Hamilton. For anyone watching F1 in the modern era, Hamilton’s name is the first that comes to their mind because of his dominance post 2014.
Croft said that he was involved in commentary during every one of Hamilton’s pole positions, race wins and podium finishes. This makes their relationship special, and the Briton feels that when the time comes for Hamilton to retire, he will do so as the greatest F1 driver of time.
Last but not the least, Croft took the name of Sir Jackie Stewart. He labels the Scottish great as a ‘proper legend’ and narrated an incident where Stewart approached him out of the blue in Monaco, and praised him for his commentary skills.
Croft has his say on Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull future
One of the biggest talking points in the off season leading up to 2023 was that of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull return. He lost out on his McLaren seat in 2022 and failed to land a seat elsewhere. That’s why he chose to return to the Milton-Keynes-based outfit as a reserve driver for the upcoming campaign.
Ricciardo also hopes to drive for the team again in the future, but Croft feels that Red Bull should look for some one else as Max Verstappen’s long term replacement. Croft feels that Ricciardo is too old to be considered as the future and hopes the Austrian squad get in a new young talent to replace him.
Also read: David Croft Warns Red Bull That Daniel Ricciardo Would Be Too Old to Replace Max Verstappen
