David Croft names the most memorable Formula 1 race he’s ever commentated on

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David Croft has been the voice of Formula 1 for the last decade, but which race has been his most memorable to commentate on?

Fans of F1 will no doubt have their favourites of all time, whether it was Lando Norris achieving his first victory at this year’s Miami GP, the inaugural race at Las Vegas, or the brilliant fight between Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at the 2022 British GP.

David Croft has been in the thick of it all for over a decade having first worked with BBC, then latterly being named as the lead commentator for Sky Sports when they took over the live TV coverage rights in 2012.

Speaking in an interview with Amy Pejkovic on her YouTube channel, Croft was asked which race was his most memorable to commentate on and fans will be surprised with his answer.

David Croft names Abu Dhabi 2021 as his most memorable race

Croft named the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as his favourite race to commentate on, largely due to the circumstances that were threw up on the final lap.

Although it generated controversy among F1 fans, it was no doubt one of the most extraordinary moments threw up in the championship’s history.

“There have been several that I have been lucky enough to witness and play a part in the storyline. But Abu Dhabi 2021, for various reasons, If we ever get another situation like that again I’ll be surprised but deeply satisfied that it has gone down to the final race,” said Croft.

“It’s now gone down to the last lap, there is controversy which is excellent, Max is in a position where the rules haven’t been followed and he’s in with a chance of the title but he’s still got to make the overtake. That last lap, I have no idea how or why I came up with what I said on the last lap.”

Why was Abu Dhabi 2021 so controversial?

The Abu Dhabi GP was the final race in what became a titanic battle for the Drivers’ Championship between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Hamilton was leading the race when a Safety Car came out late into the race due to a crash from Nicholas Latifi. With two laps until the end, Race Director Michael Masi mistakenly let a handful of cars unlap themselves in haste to restart the race on the final lap.

This enabled Max Verstappen, who had pitted under the Safety Car for new tyres, to restart the race directly behind Hamilton on older tyres. Verstappen overtook him for the title five corners into the restart, with Hamilton defenceless on the old rubber.

In the aftermath the FIA admitted that procedure was not properly followed, but allowed Verstappen to keep his title after Mercedes elected not to protest the race result. Masi was also subsequently replaced in his post as Race Director by Niels Wittich.