Formula 1 followers on the British pay-per-view channel Sky Sports have come to rely on the SkyPad, the screen on which expert Anthony Davidson highlights errors and high points during Grand Prix races. He shares the secret behind his work: “Not everyone can do this job.”
Among the large selection that Sky Sports sends to every Grand Prix, he, along with Damon Hill, Martin Brundle, and Karun Chandhok, represents the drivers’ guild. Anthony Davidson, nicknamed Ant, as a former F1 driver, knows the ropes. The Brit has been a staple on the pay-per-view channel since 2012. His analyses on the SkyPad provide necessary clarification and depth.
Anthony, a simple question: what is the SkyPad?
“The SkyPad gives fans watching our show at home a chance to take in this sport, where things often happen so quickly, in a calm manner. To be able to look at the details. But also to explain where to look for action on the track if you don’t have a trained eye. That’s what this device enables you to do. And as with any video, you can of course play images slower, pause, rewind and fast forward, and fish out all the highlights.”
Is there anything you can’t do with it?
“I depend on the clips that are made at the base – in London – and sent from there to the SkyPad. In essence, the device actually functions like a phone, on which you can adjust your screen and use all the usual mechanisms. The SkyPad is actually a very simple device: you can only play on it what is produced and input in London.”
Do you decide what the viewers get to see?
“Yes, almost all moments come from me. I am indeed essentially the content director, now that you mention it. Funny, I never really looked at it that way. I choose the clips based on what I have seen on the world feed and sometimes also from onboard footage that has come by. I am in direct contact with the team in London and then I say, for example: ‘I want this lap and that corner from this driver’. Then it is sent and I tell the story with it.”
You need a trained eye for this, I assume.
“Absolutely, not everyone can do this job. Fortunately, that’s why I have this job, haha. Look, the operators in London, for example, have been following the sport just as long as I have. But there is one important difference: they have never sat in a Formula 1 car. Their skill is editing, cutting, and creating video clips on an EVS machine. My skill is training them where to look. It’s sometimes almost impossible for an untrained eye to spot a very small driver error. That’s why this collaboration works so well: someone makes the clips, I tell them what to look out for.”
You watch a race in a very different way than the average viewer.
“That varies. The most hectic part of a Grand Prix weekend for me is the qualification. That’s where most of the action almost always happens in the final minutes: when people are eliminated. Even when a session has already been flagged, you see cars on the track and the ranking is still being shaken up. I then have to discuss with the guys in London who made a mistake where and if they saw anything special themselves? A mistake in turn 7? Oh, the second sector didn’t look so good: can you send me turns five through ten? Please check it and send it, then I’ll look at it. As soon as a session is over, the producers ask: ‘Ant, do you have anything for the SkyPad?’ Then I reply: ‘Guys, be patient. I’ve seen something, throw me in the broadcast’. It’s really all last-minute work. And then the adrenaline is pumping through your body.”
Do you immediately recognize driver errors?
“Yes. If someone, for example, takes too many kerbs and the car is therefore less balanced in a certain turn, I see that. Then I tell the guys in London: ‘Hey, that’s not his normal line, send me his previous lap’. Then I can start comparing and say: ‘Look, this was the line in his previous lap, you see that he is now taking too many kerbs’. You’re essentially already making a movie in your head to highlight and of course explain situations.”
Sounds like the perfect job.
Laughs: “It’s so exciting… It feels every time like you’re a driver at the start of a race: you’re almost always a little scared of it, but at the same time find it very thrilling. So much can go wrong, but it’s also a moment in a weekend to enjoy. If you manage to pull it off under all that pressure, it feels incredibly good.”
Is it as good as racing in an F1 car?
“No, no. Nothing else really comes close to that feeling. You know, it also depends on the scenario. If something happens that most people have missed and it’s a defining moment in a weekend, something that decides a race, and you get to narrate it live before anyone else has noticed, that’s fantastic. Usually, I hit the nail on the head, but there are live moments when you get it wrong or say something incorrect. I rarely feel like: ‘Damn, I wasn’t able to provide all the information afterwards’. But I enjoy it when the fans learn something from my explanations or analyses and are better educated as a result. Then I feel really happy with my work. But still, that will never replace the feeling of stringing together a qualifying lap in a Formula 1 car.”
Do you ever miss crucial moments?
“Not often, but nobody’s perfect, right? There are things you could or should have said live. But sometimes it’s difficult to find the right words immediately when you’re on air, building a story and putting the elements in the right order. That’s very difficult, I can tell you. Most presentations in the business world or politics take days, weeks or sometimes months to create. We have to do it live! Sometimes I’m working on a topic and I hear in my earpiece that the next clip is ready in the SkyPad, while I haven’t even seen it yet. Working live is exciting, but ideally, you always want to have a bit more time. So yes, when you look back, and I rarely do, I always think: ‘I should have done this, or said that…’ I’m a perfectionist, but I shouldn’t blame myself too much. Drivers never do the perfect lap, there’s always room for improvement. The same applies to me on the SkyPad. In hindsight, you sometimes think: I could have explained or clarified that better. If you don’t think like that, I don’t think you’re striving for improvement.”
But overall, you’re quite satisfied with your analyses, aren’t you?
“Absolutely. I know I’m good at it and can convey it well. I’m now 46 and have been doing this since I was a little boy of eight. I can pass on my knowledge to the viewer in an understandable way.”
Striking a Balance in Commentary
“Indeed, it is a balancing act. I was watching the men’s final at Wimbledon last year. There were moments when the commentators said things that I, as a layman, simply did not understand. This is called assumed knowledge, where it is presumed that you understand all the terms and backgrounds. However, one of the worst things a commentator can do is assume that their audience understands what they mean when they discuss a particular topic. Precisely: assumed knowledge. At Wimbledon finals, you often have a completely new audience. The same goes for the 100-meter sprint in athletics. You might think, ‘Oh, they just have to hit a ball back or run a hundred meters fast.’ But there are so many nuances, background stories, and insider information that a new viewer doesn’t know… That irritates me. Playing with DRS, the activation point: it’s a very complicated thing to understand. I try to explain it to the fans with examples. And then I hope it’s clear enough, that people learn from it and don’t get lost. Like, ‘What is he talking about?’ But it would be very lazy to simply ignore topics that need explanation. It’s a fine line, you have to find a balance in your explanation for people with and without a lot of knowledge of the sport. You can never please everyone. What I love about this job: there are always more details than meet the eye. You can press play and say, ‘This is another great pole position round from Max Verstappen.’ But if you stop it along the way and compare it with others, you gain new insights. I find that a beautiful part of this job.”
Receiving Feedback on Your TV Work
“I’m not on social media and I never watch the footage back. I leave all that behind on the track. But the people I meet on the street, and there are more and more of them, say, ‘I love what you’re doing. Keep it up!’ It’s nice to hear that people appreciate what we all do at Sky Sports. Because we do it for a reason: it’s entertainment. If we can make the sport more exciting and better, we do that. That’s our job.”
Staying Connected to Formula 1 as an Analyst
“I also see it as my job. I do half of the races, alternating with Karun so everyone stays fresh. And that works fine. You have to be fresh, because it’s your responsibility not to miss anything.”
Simulator Work for Mercedes: Any Conflicts?
“When I get to the circuit, I don’t even go into their motorhome. I don’t even see anyone from the team. I’m here for Sky Sports, I tell things as I see them. Regardless of who. There’s no conflict of interest, I’m sometimes tougher on that team (Mercedes) when I see a bad pit stop than on other teams. They have no problem at all with me doing this since 2012. I’m not here to burn teams, everyone does their best, but I’m not going to praise one team more than others because I like a team more. I respect great performances and criticize bad ones, that’s my job. More like a computer, I don’t have feelings about it and try to keep it as factual as possible.”
Does knowing many people in the paddock help in your work as an analyst?
“I think it does. Sometimes you get some inside information, but even then, I’m not sure if they tell everything. What I also realize when I watch other sports and listen to commentary: I don’t care when a commentator refers to something from his own career. That actually irritates me quite a bit. I never talk about my career. I look at these drivers in the here and now, they are racing at this moment. I believe it when a commentator has played football, swam or played tennis at a high level. I don’t need to hear that. Your career is over, focus on the now. Very, very occasionally, if it could help the story, I refer to my career. But it hardly ever happens. Because I am aware that fans, and I myself, are not waiting for it. The only thing I want from a commentator is to learn.”
Do you watch and learn from your colleagues?
“When I’m at home, I watch the entire race. To be very honest: the free weekends with family are so precious to us that I record the race and only watch it when the Sunday with the family is over. And then I quickly fast forward to the SkyPad clips from my colleague. Look, I know what story is going to be told over the weekend, what the themes on the grid are and what news is playing. Don’t forget that we produce a lot of content. From start to finish, I think about eight hours or so.”
Is there competition among analysts and commentators? Do egos come into play?
“There is so much passion and knowledge in the team, everyone knows what they are talking about. And you go along with that, because you don’t want to lag behind the team. We all do our homework, come to the circuit full of knowledge and details. We are constantly challenged to do better. There is ‘competition’ in a good way among us. You don’t want to stand there and ventilate an opinion or fact with which you are completely wrong and need to be corrected. We actually strengthen each other, meetings every day what we are going to do, what the topics are. These are kind of mini-strategy sessions: we take it very seriously. We actually work like a kind of racing team: we all wear headphones and also communicate in real time. That system was brought in by us as drivers. There is no us and them culture, it’s all about details if you want to improve things. And I hope the viewers appreciate that.”
The days during a Grand Prix must be long.
“Certainly. Before this, I did radio on BBC5 Live with Crofty (commentator David Croft). When we had signed a deal with Sky, I thought: it’s just more of the same. But that was a serious miscalculation, TV is so different. We work long days, all work hard. Of course, so much happens in a day, from morning to evening. Stories that develop, news that wasn’t there yesterday, rumors that are official today. It’s never boring, a day can suddenly take on a whole different dimension. That’s why you come back. An F1 car is never the same, it constantly evolves. News flow also never ends. Sometimes it’s a lot of the same, but often with a twist. That’s what I also find exciting about Formula 1.”
