David Croft's plans for the rest of the F1 season have been revealed after a cryptic comment from his replacement Harry Benjamin during practice in Barcelona. Sky Sports lead Formula 1 commentator David Croft will miss one other race this season after this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, Express Sport can reveal.
Croft's Absence and Benjamin's Role
Croft has become the UK broadcaster's voice of F1 after more than a decade in the role and, for many years, was ever-present at races. But the expansion of the annual schedule to 24 races per season has resulted in even 'Crofty' taking the odd weekend off here and there. In the 2024 and 2025 campaigns, he took three weekends off, skipping the Emilia-Romagna, Austrian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix both years. Harry Benjamin, usually lead F1 commentator for BBC Radio 5 Live, was called up by Sky to cover him on each of those occasions.
Cancelled Races Change Plans
Croft's plans this year had to change, as Imola is no longer on the calendar, but the expectation was that he would still be absent from three Grands Prix. Though Benjamin left some fans puzzled with a comment he made live on air during practice in Barcelona on Friday. Speaking to co-commentator Karun Chandhok, Benjamin said that he was only going to get one more chance to commentate for Sky Sports this year. That comment came as a surprise to fans, given this is his first substitute appearance of 2026, and so the expectation was that Sky would need to provide cover for Croft on two more occasions between now and the end of the season.
But Express Sport understands the situation has changed because of the cancellation of the two Middle Eastern races that were due to take place in April. Croft was due to skip the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with Benjamin primed to cover for him, until the Jeddah race was called off due to conflict in the region after joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran, prompting retaliatory strikes on other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia.
Updated Calendar and Benjamin's Appearances
With the race calendar for 2026 now reduced to 22 rounds, as it stands Croft is not expected to add any other races to the original three that he had planned to skip this year. This weekend's action in Barcelona is the second of the three races for which Benjamin was due to step in for Sky, with the third to come between now and the end of the year.
Croft's Weekend at Download Festival
As he had hinted live on air in Monaco last week, Croft is spending the Barcelona race weekend at the Download music festival instead. He has already posted several photos on his Instagram page showing him enjoying the sets at the rock festival, which takes place each summer at Donington Park, in Leicestershire, known best for being a motorsport venue. Indeed, it has hosted one Formula 1 race in the past as well: The 1993 European Grand Prix, won by Ayrton Senna after a famous first lap which saw the Brazilian overtake four other cars in wet conditions. Donington Park was primed to take over the hosting of the British Grand Prix from Silverstone in 2010, but that plan fell through because of a lack of financing for the event.
