Martin Brundle reveals why he feels right at home co-commentating on Sky Sports F1's coverage.
Martin right at home alongside Crofty in the commentary box
A select group of writers and bloggers got the chance to hear
Sky Sports F1's brand new commentary partnership of David Croft and Martin Brundle in action at a special press day ahead of the channel's launch on March 9.
Croft and Brundle sat down for a dummy run a few weeks ago in front of last year's Australian GP and within minutes it felt completely natural, which the end result certainly showed.
"We just want to have fun" said Croft. "We want to be informing, educating and entertaining but most of all we want to have a good time. It's about the chance to do what we've always wanted to do, which is talk about a sport that we've always loved."
Meanwhile, Martin admitted that he's much more comfortable reverting back to co-commentary after a year leading the BBC's coverage.
"I realised halfway through last year when I was lead commentator that I just prefer being the co-commentator," he said. "I enjoyed leading but I felt I had to force it a little. After the rehearsal with Crofty those thoughts were just reaffirmed."
Insight
Anthony Davidson will join the duo during practice and qualifying whilst the familiar face of Ted Kravitz will be in the pits, offering his insight during the race. And talking of familiar faces, the drivers can expect one on the grid before each race.
"I will be returning to the pit walk," continued Brundle. "It'll be as and when I fancy it really but being co-commentator gives me the chance to get down there." And his new partner in crime Croft was quick to remove any excuses.
"Now Martin's training for Le Mans, he should be able to do the pit walk and then sprint up to the commentary box with time to spare." As colleague Natalie Pinkham suggested, a 'bromance' could well be on the cards.
All of
Sky Sports F1's talent was present at the Grosvenor House hotel to answer questions and the tough-talking bloggers worked hard to tease any new titbits of information from the team. Many eyes were on Damon Hill who was asked why it's taken him so long to move into broadcasting from F1.
"To be honest, I couldn't bring myself to watch it after I retired. It was like watching an ex-girlfriend from afar", said the former World Champion. "But I feel ready now. I want to just provide an insight from a driver's point of view. I won't be modelling myself on any pundit, as the new boy it's up to me to find my own voice but I expect to get a real buzz the first time we go live."
Predictions
There were plenty of other snippets to come out of the day. Damon will be joining
Twitter (soon) and no longer harbours a grudge with Michael Schumacher (honest); Georgie Thompson is eternally grateful to be allowed out from behind the
Sky Sports News desk after 10 years and Ted Kravitz is so into technical details he was spotted taking apart his pen to study it.
And the audience were treated to a sneak preview of the channel's other offerings with full archive race re-runs (a back-catalogue dating from 1988), the legends series, GP2 and GP3, technical and behind-the-scenes insights and the weekly magazine show with Georgie and Ted which will run throughout the year, even during the August break. Plus, there was the chance to experience the ear deafening brilliance of Dolby Digital 5.1 in all its glory, something that impressed both Martin and David.
Read about Dolby Digital 5.1 here.
"When we were rehearsing we kept on looking at each other because we could hear some music in the background of the audio," cooed Martin. "When we finished we asked the guys where it was coming from and it was then we realised we were hearing the band that were playing down at turn nine on the day, the quality was
THAT good and
THAT clear!"
As for the season ahead, well it was harder to get predictions from the team on that subject. David is backing Schumacher to get back on top of the podium (something Damon is looking forward to seeing!) whilst Martin, Ted and Anthony all agree that Mercedes are the ones to watch. Damon is looking forward to some great team battles but doesn't expect anyone to break past the existing top six. And Anthony thinks the returning Kimi Raikkonen should expect to find it tough to get up to speed after his time in a rally car because of the huge contrasts.
Whatever happens, you'll be able to see every minute on
Sky Sports F1 and hopefully you'll have as much fun watching it as our team clearly are putting it all together.
