David Croft makes surprising Martin Brundle Sky F1 admission

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft has revealed the key to working with Martin Brundle in the commentary box and it's not always listening to what the former F1 driver says.

Croft, also known as 'Crofty', has been working alongside Brundle in the commentary box since Sky Sports nabbed the exclusive rights to every race for F1 in 2012.

The secret to their success according to Croft is that it is a 'long term relationship' when asked how do they avoid the commentary cardinal sin of talking over each other.

Trying to explain his answer Crofty reflected that often he has to sometimes not listen to everything Brundle says as he tries to absorb all the information in front of him.

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Croft explains how he and Brundle work

Talking on Lucas Stewart's YouTube channel, Croft explained: "I've always right from the outset listened intently to what Martin's saying, but also how he's saying it and the tone of his voice.

"You can often hear when someone's coming to the end of a sentence because if I was to look at Martin, because I stand on the left, he stands on the right, then I'm not looking at the screens or out the window, so I'm so I'm missing all the action.

"So I kind of have him in my peripheral vision, but I'm listening to the tone of his voice, if not always exactly what he's saying.

"Because sometimes I'm thinking and I'm looking at something else, or someone's talking in one of my ears such as the director or the producer. But it's just kind of a long-term relationship."

Croft: We are two mates on tour

Croft then explained how their dynamic has worked making it the longest F1 commentary partnerships in British TV history, having passed the nearly 13 years Murray Walker was with James Hunt.

He added: "We've been working together since 2012. Yeah, we're two mates on tour, basically.

"It's always been that way. We had one rehearsal at Sky together, and and a five-minute chat before that rehearsal as to how we thought we were going to do this, and we pretty much do what we set out to do right from the outset.

"He's the expert. I ask the questions. I talk long enough that he has time to formulate the opinion, the answers, and sometimes I'll ask a supplementary challenge, because it's a point that's worth expanding and expanding.

"But we to this day still get really excited about Formula One, about what we're seeing and what we're doing, and Sundays our day."

How Murray Walker and James Hunt worked expertly

While Croft has detailed how he and Brundle avoid overlapping by talking over each other with their microphones in the commentary box, Murray Walker and James Hunt had a full-proof method during their time as F1 commentators together between 1980 and 1993.

They simply just used one microphone. Passing it back and forth to each other when one wanted to speak.

Walker admitted in his autobiography that early on he struggled to work with Hunt and there was one instance when he was left outraged when the 1976 F1 champion snatched the microphone out of his hand, leading to his producer through gesturing to warn him live on air not to retaliate.

Walker and Hunt would go on to become good friends thought and will forever be one of the most iconic duos of F1 commentary.

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