David Croft is undoubtedly the “voice of F1” for all modern viewers watching races on their TV sets. Croft and his co-commentator Martin Brundle have kept billions of fans entertained during races with their insights and commentary.
The Briton started commenting on F1 races when he worked with BBC in 2006. He moved to Sky’s Formula One coverage in 2012 and has since been the lead commentator for the sport.
One of his most famous catchphrases, “It’s lights out and away we go”, is probably the most exciting thing fans hear when the race starts. And the Briton discusses how he devised the iconic call while starting his commentary career.
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How David Croft invented “It’s Lights out and away we go”
When David Croft comes on air ahead of a race start, his 7-word phrase is the most anticipated thing a fan wants to hear. But Croft coined the term to give himself a breather than to raise the hype surrounding a race.
Crofty shared on the Pitstop Podcast, “I introduced it because it gave me 2 or 3 seconds where I am not thinking about what I’m saying and to analyse what has just happened.”
In sports commentary, a lot of action happens to live, and it’s necessary to let moments like those develop while keeping fans entertained. Like in the first lap of the race, there is a high possibility of overtakes, collisions and drama.
He added, “I say it because it I want to buy myself a bit of time to see what’s happened. And then pick things out. And sometimes hopefully you get things right because you don’t always see”
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Crofty wasn’t the first to say the iconic phrase
One of his most iconic moments is David Croft introducing a race with the term. However, Crofty wasn’t the only one using the phrase when he started his career.
He admits BBC’s Ben Edwards was also actively using the same introduction, probably much before Croft used the same. And neither of the two realised that as both were on different commentary boxes.
Funnily enough, the duo realised it only after a few races when fans pointed it out. Edwards decided to gift the phrase to Croft on his 50th birthday with a message. “It’s now yours!”
David thankfully accepted the gift. But he confesses, “I think I’ve made a bit more of it and people associate me with that phrase.”
Sometimes phrases like this help commentators as the entire circuit aren’t visible on their feed. Like Crofty shares, crashes on the far end of the track sometimes don’t get immediate attention, and he needed to keep stuff in hand.
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