Sky's F1 commentator David Croft on the Bahrain GP and ‘genius’ Diego Maradona

Virgin Radio

26 Nov 2020, 12:58

He’s a self-confessed 'sports nut' and will be commentating live this weekend doing what he does best. David Croft joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky earlier to talk about the Bahrain GP, being a Hammer and 'the superstar of his generation' Diego Maradona.

The 50-year-old told Chris what’s left to play for this weekend. He said: “It's a bit like Fairytale of New York, there is a lot at stake even though you might not think it. 

“There’s the battle for fourth in the drivers’ championship. You've got a lot of drivers in contention for that. 

“Whilst fourth place might not be what every driver wants, but to Sergio Perez, what a way to bow out of Formula One - it looks like he hasn’t got a seat for next season - with fourth place in the championship.

“In the Constructors Championship… there's that big battle for third place… but if you want to know what that means to the teams, it’s the difference between third and sixth of about $14 million, so there's an awful lot of money at stake, if nothing else.”

Chris asked about Sergio Perez being possibly the ‘greatest driver of his generation’ and not being able to get a seat.

David said: “It's ridiculous that a man of his talent probably won't get a seat for next year. 

“There are probably reasons why he's never kept a job at the top seat for long enough. He was a McLaren driver, it didn't work out for him there, and he's never gone back to a top team since.

“I don't know what those reasons are but those in the know that have access to all the data will probably tell you why. 

“But all I know about Sergio Perez is… he's fourth in the championship. He has got nine podiums in his career, he has not always been in the best car but he has always produced the best results he can on the day.

“I just think it's an absolute travesty that we're not going to be seeing him in Formula One for next year but sometimes, in life politics outweighs talent and it seems that's what's happening at the moment.”

Is David a one-sports-man only or does he play the field? He said his love of sports runs deeps. “Darts, football - I’m a season ticket holder at West Ham, I love cricket and horse racing, boxing… I'm an absolute sport nuts, always have been since I was a little boy.”

So what does he make of Maradona’s death? He said: “Maradona was the big superstar of our generation. 

“I’ve been looking this morning and smiling at three minutes of Diego Maradona warming up on a football pitch and possessing some of the greatest ball-juggling skills known to man. 

“A lot of people will be flippant and say, ‘Oh yeah, but that hand of God goal, that rather tainted it.’

“No, he was so good he rose above the hand of God goal and we still loved him despite what happened in that particular moment and there will never be another Maradona -  man for whom a football was just destined to be close to his body.

“I've never known a footballer have better control of a football than Diego Maradona did. He was just a genius.”

Watch Bahrain GP exclusively live on Sky Sports F1 

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