David Croft (broadcaster)

David Michael Croft (born 19 June 1970), also referred to as Crofty, is a British sports broadcaster. Since 2012, Croft has served as the lead commentator of Formula One on Sky Sports, which was the global broadcast until 2022; he previously worked for BBC Sport on coverage of the BDO World Darts Championship from 2004 to 2012.

David Michael Croft was born on 19 June 1970 and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. He 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 in December 1998. During his time at the station he covered the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2004 Athens Summer Olympics and presented Saturday Sport on 5 during both the summer of 2004 and 2005.

Croft was the BBC Radio 5 Live Formula One commentator and presenter, succeeding Maurice Hamilton at the start of the 2006 Formula 1 season. He worked alongside former Super Aguri, BAR and Minardi F1 driver Anthony Davidson and pitlane reporters Ted Kravitz 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 service, BBC Sport Online and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

Croft has also commentated on the BDO World Darts Championship and Winmau World Masters 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 Anthony Davidson, Ted Kravitz, Natalie Pinkham and Martin Brundle.

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 which is scheduled to have 24 rounds. Harry Benjamin stepped in for Croft at that year’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May, the Austrian Grand Prix 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 since its inception in 2012.

His work outside the BBC has included commentary on: