David Croft responds to Adrian Newey’s accusation of ‘nationalistic’ Sky F1 coverage

Sky F1’s lead broadcaster David Croft has responded to Adrian Newey’s suggestion that the broadcaster’s coverage is nationalistic in its approach.

The outgoing Red Bull chief technical officer spoke about how he feels certain drivers end up vilified as a result of nationalistic broadcasting standards, in an interview following his signing to the Aston Martin squad.

What did Adrian Newey say about Sky F1?

Fresh off the back of confirming he will join the Aston Martin F1 team next year, current Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey appeared on the High Performance Podcast and spoke about how he feels reigning World Champion Max Verstappen isn’t “fully appreciated” in a similar fashion to Sebastian Vettel a decade ago.

“I think from the outside I’m not sure people fully appreciate and understand Max, just like they didn’t with Sebastian,” said Newey on the High Performance Podcast , who worked closely with both multiple F1 World Champions during their periods of dominance with Red Bull.

“First of all, there’s this sort of demonisation both of them suffered at times, which I think is very unfair, and maybe that’s also a little bit of the British media, if I’m honest.

“Sky has a huge influence around the world, their viewing is truly international, but their coverage is quite nationalistic dare I say, and that can have an influence.

“It’s this thing that now with journalism typically, there is that trend to sort of either put people on a pedestal or knock them down.”

Sky Sports F1 is a British broadcaster but has international reach as its coverage is sold to English-language markets around the world, while its commentary contents are frequently used by the official F1 social media channels.

Two years ago, Red Bull boycotted Sky F1’s coverage during the 2022 Mexican Grand Prix by refusing to put any of their drivers or team boss Christian Horner forward for interviews, due to having felt slighted by comments made by reporter Ted Kravitz in which he suggested Lewis Hamilton had been “robbed” at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and slipping up by “almost” referring to Hamilton as an “eight-time World Champion”.

While this boycott was short-lived, Verstappen has confirmed his stance on British media “bias” is shared with Newey and said: “I basically agree 100 percent, yes.”

David Croft denies Sky F1 nationalistic bias

With recent commentary and interviews suggesting support for the idea of imposing team orders at McLaren in support of Lando Norris as the British driver attempts to dethrone Max Verstappen, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying session saw Kravitz commiserating with Norris after the McLaren driver was knocked out in Q1.

But the apparent disappointment at seeing Norris eliminated could also be viewed as merely showing empathy toward a shocked driver, and lead commentator David Croft has denied that Sky is nationalistic in its approach to its coverage.

“I will try and follow the story, it’s as simple as that,” he told Australia’s Speedcafe.

“You try and follow the story, wherever that story might be, and Formula 1 is unique in that there are many different stories that happen during the course of the race.

“You’ve also got to talk to the pictures, which we have no control over, on Sky, at all – they’re all from a world feed – so you’re reacting to what that director wants to put out there.”

Croft was referring to the fact that the footage displayed on the screen is controlled by F1’s own production, with camera angles and driver choices being made from a facility at Biggin Hill in London.

How Sky makes the coverage its own is by utilising its own audio commentary, pre-race build-up, graphics, and the ability to cut to on-camera reports from trackside, the pitlane, or the paddock.

While Corft believes he offers a neutral perspective on the racing, he believes everyone watching will have their own biases.

“I try to be as impartial as I can,” he said.

“It’s really difficult to prove whether you’re impartial or not because we all watch with a bias.

“We all watch with our own bias and our own perceptions of a comment or a statement that somebody makes.

“And when you’re trying sometimes to be neutral, someone will perceive that in a completely different way.

“Do I get more excited when a British driver wins? Possibly – you might think so, I don’t know because I’m in that moment.

“Do I get more excited when it’s been a thrilling race? Yes.

“Do I get more excited when there’s a great story to go with it? Yes. Do I get excited about whoever wins? I try to.”

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What did David Croft have to say about the Azerbaijan Grand Prix?

Croft himself was missing from Sky’s coverage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Harry Benjamin filling in as Croft married his partner Laura Bradley at a ceremony in France.

Offering his perspective on what had unfolded as Norris clawed back three points on Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship, Croft said the title outcome could be largely decided by what happens this weekend in Singapore.

“It’s only three points, but those three points might come in very handy at the end,” Croft said.

“But it was damage limitation.

“He’ll be pleased that he finished ahead of Max; he’ll be upset that that yellow flag that shouldn’t have been there in qualifying cost him the chance to get right up there at the sharp end because it’s the second weekend running, isn’t it, whereby Red Bull have been a long way off the race.

“McLaren have taken advantage as a team but Lando hasn’t taken massive advantage as a driver to overhaul it.

“So going on to Singapore, this is the weekend for me where Lando has to make a serious dent in Max’s championship advantage,” he continued.

“Red Bull haven’t done that well at Singapore by their standards, it’s not a convincing victory track for them.

“I’m not expecting it to be a convincing victory track for them this week either.

“Time is running out and I think by the time we get to Austin, Red Bull should have put right a lot of what they need to on their car.

“So [Norris] needs at least 10 points, I think, in terms of trimming that lead out of Singapore, which means Oscar might need to help his team-mate out a little bit.”

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