David Michael Croft (born 19 June 1970), commonly referred to as Crofty, is a British television broadcaster for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

. He is the lead commentator for Sky's

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

coverage, a role he has held since 2012. He was born and raised in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Early career

Croft began his broadcasting career in hospital radio at Radio Fairfield. He spent three years working at BBC Three Counties Radio, first as a sports reporter then as sports editor. He moved to

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

in December 1998. During his time at the station he covered the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and 2004 Athens Summer Olympics and presented Saturday Sport on 5 during both the summer of 2004 and 2005.

BBC Sport/Sky Sports commentator

Formula One commentator

BBC Radio and Television

Croft was the

commentator and presenter, succeeding Maurice Hamilton at the start of the 2006 Formula 1 season. He worked alongside former Super Aguri, BAR and

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...

F1 driver

Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One between and . In endurance racing, Davidson won the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2014 with Toyota. Born in Hem ...

and pitlane reporters

Ted Kravitz Ted Kravitz (born Theodore Joseph Nathaniel Slotover; 21 March 1974) is a British Formula One pit-lane reporter who works for Sky Sports F1. In addition to his role as a pit-lane reporter, Kravitz is also known for his in-depth technical analy ...

and Natalie Pinkham, covering each Grand Prix and qualifying as well as the three practice sessions which could be heard via the

BBC Red Button BBC Red Button is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced Ceefax, the BBC's analogue teletext service. BBC Red Button's text services were due to cl ...

service, BBC Sport Online and

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra (formerly BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra) is a British digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, and specialising in extended live sports coverage. It is a sister station ...

. Croft has also commentated on the

BDO World Darts Championship The BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and held annually from 1978 to 2020. The championship was first held at the Heart of the Midlands Nightclub in the Englis ...

and

Winmau World Masters The World Masters is a darts tournament, initially organised by the British Darts Organisation from 1974 and later by the World Darts Federation. It is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments. The tournament w ...

for BBC Television from 2004 to 2012 after first covering the World Championship for BBC Radio 5 Live in 2002.

Sky Sports

announced on 7 December 2011 that Croft would be lead commentator for their coverage of F1 for the 2012 season, and would be joined by

, Natalie Pinkham and

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Brundle won the World Sportscar Champions ...

. Croft celebrated his 250th Grand Prix as a Formula One commentator at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. On 22 February 2024, Croft announced he would not be commentating for Sky Sports F1 on three of the races during the

2024 Formula One World Championship The 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars and was the 75th running of the Formula One World Championship. It was recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the gov ...

which is scheduled to have 24 rounds. Harry Benjamin stepped in for Croft at that year’s

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (), also known as the Imola Grand Prix (), was a Formula One motor racing event held at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, often referred to as "Imola" after the town where it is located. The even ...

in May, the

Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix () is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, and –. It returned to the Formula One calendar in , where it has remained since then. It was first held at ...

in June, and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September. This was to manage his workload and spend more time with family, including his wedding to Laura Bradley. This marked the first time Croft had missed commentating on a race since the 2007 European Grand Prix and first such occasion he had not commentated on a race for

Sky Sports F1 Sky Sports F1 is a British pay television sports channel owned by Sky Group. Part of the Sky Sports networks, it broadcasts motorsport coverage, with a particular focus on Formula One, including live coverage of all practices, qualifying sessio ...

since its inception in 2012. Croft confirmed on 13 March 2025 that he will once again miss three races of the 2025 Formula One World Championship. He is known in the F1 community for his famous line ''"It's Lights Out And Away We Go!"'' which he says at the beginning of every race. From 2013 onwards, Croft has been working as a presenter and occasional commentator for Sky Sports' coverage of

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...

events.

Further commentary work

His work outside the BBC has included commentary on: *Two rounds of the

2010 FIA GT1 World Championship The 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship was the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship, a motor racing competition reserved for Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Sports car racing#Grand Touring, GT1 cars. The championship was a replaceme ...

and FIA GT3 European Championship in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

and Portimao as well as one round of the

2011 FIA GT1 World Championship The 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season was the second season of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars complying with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) GT1 regulations. The cham ...

and FIA GT3 European Championship season, both at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

. *Boxing for Premier Sports including an early

Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2024. He held multiple world heavyweight championships, including unified titles from 2015 to 2016, the '' Ring'' magazine title twice bet ...

fight *Boxing for

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports Media is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland and in Tbilisi, Georgia, broadcasting throughout select Eurasian countries, and the Philippines. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Iris ...

including

Joe Calzaghe Joseph William Calzaghe ( ; born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including unified and lineal titles at super-middleweight, and ...

's final professional

fight Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

against

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. As an amateur he r ...

at Madison Square Garden *The 2008 and 2009

Freerunning Freerunning is an athletic and acrobatic discipline incorporating an aesthetic element, and can be considered either a sport or a performance art, or both. Freerunning is similar to parkour, from which it is derived, but emphasizes artistry over ...

World Championship *The 2009 Goodwood Revival and 2010, 2011 & 2012

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hillclimb and other events, held in Goodwood House, West Sussex, in late June or early July. Th ...

*The Race on Sky 1 *Red Bull Track Attack for ITV *The

F1 in Schools STEM Racing (formerly F1 in Schools) is an international STEM competition endorsed by Formula One, Formula 1 for students aged 9–19. Groups of 3–6 students have to design and manufacture a miniature F1 car using Computer-aided design, CAD/C ...

competition, namely for the world finals events *Presenter of the 2014 and 2016 World Branding Awards

In popular culture

He is the voice of the paddock reporter in the

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer and former publisher based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts and managed under the EA Sports ...

'' F1 2010'' game and in the sequel '' F1 2011''. In '' F1 2012'', '' F1 2013'', and '' F1 2014'', he guides the player through the games' respective menus, and in '' F1 2015'', '' F1 2016'', '' F1 2017'', '' F1 2018'', '' F1 2019'', '' F1 2020'', '' F1 2021'', '' F1 22'', '' F1 23'' and '' F1 24'' he is a commentator during in-game sessions alongside

and, in the latter of which, Natalie Pinkham as well as Naomi Schiff. Croft also voiced the character of Lofty Crofty in the European release of ''

Planes Plane most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface * Plane (mathematics), generalizations of a geometrical plane Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane ...

''. The character was the European equivalent of Colin Cowling. In 2023, Croft recorded sections of him speaking to be used on rapper IDK's 2023 album, ''F65''. Croft's voice was also used for the

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

performance from the same artist. Alongside

, Coft will commentate on the racing sequences in the upcoming film '' F1''.

Radio presenter

Croft has previously presented a midweek sports show and a Monday night football phone-in show on

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...

94.9FM, where he has also stood in for

Paul Ross John Paul Ross (born 31 December 1956) is an English television and radio presenter, journalist and media personality. He is the son of Martha Ross and the elder brother of Jonathan Ross. Early life Growing up in outer east London, Ross was ...

and co-presented the Breakfast show first with JoAnne Good and then

Gaby Roslin Gaby Roslin (born 12 July 1964) is an English television and radio presenter who rose to fame co-presenting ''The Big Breakfast'' on Channel 4 between 1992 and 1996. Roslin also presented the ''Children in Need'' charity telethons on the BBC be ...

. Croft is a fan of rock music and is regular contributor to Primordial Radio with his Crofty's Tracks appearing on the afternoon show with Dewsbury.

References

External links

*
David Croft's Agent details

BBC BiographyDavid Croft's ''Harvey Voices'' ProfileMeet the Host : David Croft
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, David 1970 births Living people British radio personalities Darts commentators Motorsport announcers People from Stevenage Sky Sports presenters and reporters Formula One journalists and reporters