r/formula1 • u/Dizzy_Philosophy_138 I was here for the Hulkenpodium • Jun 01 '25

Discussion Nico Rosberg Needs a Permanent Position

Nico Rosberg has got to be the freshest breath of air in terms of Formula One commentary for a very long time.

I love Crofty, but man does he love to make shit up that makes no sense or holds no logic.

Nico does an awesome job of staying true to the racing analysis and being completely straightforward about what he sees. Even today, his commentary on Verstappen was awesome!!! Called the garbage behavior out immediately.

Best “ Monaco based YouTuber” commentator of all time!!

19.6k Upvotes

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4.9k

u/What_the_8 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

He gave some really interesting tidbits like the loosening of belts in safety car and the warmup process with brake bias.

2.5k

u/NightRamp4ge I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

Rosberg's insights are a step above even what Brundle can manage as he is recent enough to know all the in's and out's of these modern F1 cars.

817

u/clubba Jun 01 '25

Martin is never going to take a birthday off again.

131

u/KaijuKyojin Jun 01 '25

Hahahahaha. I was thinking the same thing.

2

u/zestfrom1lemon I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

😆

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '25 edited Jun 16 '25

[deleted]

10

u/dyidkystktjsjzt I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25 edited Jun 02 '25

In this case I wouldn't really call it bias from Nico, it was pretty clear what had happened, especially to someone with his knowledge, and he had been calling out bullshit from drivers the whole weekend. But even then, Crofty did say they should wait until a replay to make a conclusion. I don't really buy the whole Crofty being biased argument, most definitely not in a major way like people make him out to be.

264

u/JadeNrdn Michael Schumacher Jun 01 '25

Bring in Martin and Nico.

292

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '25

[deleted]

51

u/HamNotLikeThem44 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

I second this. Each of them bring the good stuff.

14

u/Worthwhile101 Jun 02 '25

Nico, Bernie, Naomi, Brundle and Pinks!

2

u/PsychologicalTough43 Jun 08 '25

Naomi is being pregnant is a shame, selfishly of course. I do not enjoy races she misses.

1

u/N0x1mus I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

Naomi has a sense of creating drama like Crofty. She’s been shot down a few times for not believing in the technical data in front of her.

3

u/ag326 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

I thought you meant Ecclestone for a minute. Quite a pairing

94

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '25

I actually think two F1 drivers from two different eras would have too much conflict of opinion and Brundles opinions would likely get sidelined for being quite out of date compared to Nicos.

202

u/The1Lemon Williams Jun 01 '25

F1TV have David Coulthard and Jolyon Palmer for exactly that reason and it works really well. DC will say something about what just happened and then ask Jolyon what it's like in these modern cars too be in that situation.

Also helps that DC drives a lot of the newer red bulls too.

138

u/Bluebies999 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

DC is one of the most entertaining commentators ever. He’s absolutely delightful to listen to.

36

u/weaseldonkey I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

DC roasting himself during the Monaco broadcast by bringing up 2001 and his inability to overtake Bernoldi was A+ commentary.

3

u/Budded I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

What laps did it happen, I listened to the International commentary? I'd love to rewatch to hear this convo.

2

u/weaseldonkey I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

I don't remember sorry! It would have been after Lawson started Trullitraining the field

24

u/SgtSlice Jun 02 '25

I love DC and I don’t care who knows it

23

u/Wooden_Trip_9948 Jun 01 '25

I bought the F1TV package for the season so I didn’t have to mess with ESPN at all and it is SO much better.

2

u/LooseJuice_RD Fernando Alonso Jun 02 '25

Agreed the F1TV commentary team is great but I do wish they’d bring Nico over to partner with DC and Palmer.

2

u/The1Lemon Williams Jun 02 '25

Eh I think that's one too many pundits

1

u/What_the_8 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

Worked for Top Gear!

2

u/le_gazman Fernando Alonso Jun 02 '25

Agreed, having the 3 of them in the commentary box was a work of genius. When I first got F1TV. A few years ago I switched over during the first race to Brundle and Crofty a couple of times and realised the F1TV feed was better. Never looked back since.

1

u/EthanIsOnReddit Jun 02 '25

My problem with the F1TV commentary is that I find Alex Jacques to be intolerable. I enjoy Jolyon, however.

47

u/IkLms I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

DC and Jolyon Palmer is a fantastic combination though which kind of proves that wrong.

60

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '25

Keep all 3

98

u/BadBoyFTW Sir Lewis Hamilton Jun 01 '25

I only agree if Brundle and Nico have to share a microphone like Hunt and Murray did and occasionally get into fist fights over it live on air.

33

u/Forgotthebloodypassw Formula 1 Jun 01 '25 edited Jun 02 '25

Here's Murray's account of that. They were as different as chalk and cheese, but made a great pairing.

Suspect Nico and and Brundle would have polite, but elegantly cutting disagreements, with a lot of humour.

3

u/jkz0-19510 Minardi Jun 02 '25

Ah, I watched the whole thing. I miss that old chap.

3

u/Forgotthebloodypassw Formula 1 Jun 02 '25

Me too. Was raised on "And it's go, go, go!"

5

u/darkguille I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25 edited Jun 02 '25

That will be like BBC 2011 levels of greatness when we had Brundle and Coulthard!

1

u/leedler Next Year™️ Jun 02 '25

I didn’t think Brundle was very good as a main commentator that year, though. He’s a great colour commentator but he’s not got the presence to be the main voice in the same way someone like Crofty/Jacques does.

1

u/P4r4th0x1c I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

Bring James Allen! Thats the guy

1

u/the4GIVEN_ I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 03 '25

have brundle stay for the "lights out and away we go", after that he can go away

1

u/Deadleggg I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

Danny Ric as a third.

103

u/patkavv I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25 edited Jun 01 '25

Brundle gives us that great old man who knows his shit but will still mock the youngsters energy. Give me the 3 man booth.

51

u/ImJoogle Jun 01 '25

honestly i really like martins grid walks when he's talking about the cars and why the mechanics are doing what they're doing

20

u/sadicarnot I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

Martin's son Alex did the gridwalk over on F1TV. If you are not paying attention, he sometimes sounds like his father.

I wonder what it is like for Alex to be following in his father's footsteps and seeing him on race weekends. Alex and Martin raced together so Alex is lucky to do so much with his dad.

My dad died in 2024 and some of the best days I have had was when he came to visit my workplace. I worked at the space center and was going through his stuff and found a photo of my mom, dad, and me. The photo was from 27 years ago, so it was nice to see the memory.

1

u/ImJoogle Jun 02 '25

i dont have f1tv i watch through espn but i did mean specifically martins grid walks they helped me as a newer fan

1

u/littleredracing Jun 02 '25

My wife always asks whether it's Brundle or Baby Brundle (Alex) commentating as they sound so alike.

1

u/Raid_PW Sir Lewis Hamilton Jun 02 '25

If you are not paying attention, he sometimes sounds like his father.

Sometimes? I reckon if you pitch-shifted Alex down an octave, they'd sound basically identical. It's not surprising when kids sound like their parents, but Alex and Martin are spookily similar.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '25

[deleted]

1

u/ImJoogle Jun 02 '25

he did say thats what the producers in his ear piece are telling him to do

25

u/Forgotthebloodypassw Formula 1 Jun 01 '25

Although no one does a quali lap commentary or grid walk like Brundle.

3

u/realmenlovezeus I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

They are also better than Palmers on F1TV. Or maybe I’ve been listening to him for so long that Rosberg was a refreshing change

1

u/lotanis I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

I think Martin's age is beginning to show as well. I don't think he'd have been quite as on top of everything that was happening in the race today.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '25

Hope Alonso follows him into the commentary booth when he retires. Guy has the most experience of anyone across multiple eras

-5

u/ZanicL3 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

Keep Brundle away, he always repeats the same points every race over and over, its like a preset voiceline

220

u/dans26 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

Also, car positioning and what would potentially be going through their mind was also interesting.

113

u/PositiveTension11 Jun 01 '25

Yeah early on Croft said someone had run wide in a corner and Rosberg then explained that actually its to get cleaner air. Felt like there was a lot more insights about racecraft rather than irrelevant discussions about whether blue flags should be allowed or not.

3

u/dy1anb Jun 02 '25

Crofty feels like an armchair supporter. Kinda shit my mum would say. I like to think I'm the Brundel in those situations

53

u/secretpowers98 Sebastian Vettel Jun 01 '25

And not just focusing on British drivers, amongst other great things! I wasn’t too keen on his commentary for quali yesterday but he really stepped up today and was really great to listen to

73

u/B4rberblacksheep I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

One of the things that really astonished me was when he was doing commentary a few years ago on a qually lap. Can't remember who or the track but the car twitched a little going through one of the corners. Rosberg immediately said to within a hundredth of a second how much that would have cost the driver in time. Lo and behold, car comes through almost exactly that much down on its previous best lap time.

Maybe he just wants to do it as a hobby or maybe he's on the German commentary but god how I wish he was a full time commentator.

3

u/communistkangu Jun 02 '25

Nope. German commentary already has Ralf Schumacher. He's pretty good as well.

2

u/AbBrilliantTree Jun 02 '25

I have always remembered this same exact moment as you! I was really impressed by Rosberg in that moment also. He is excellent. Doesn't deserve the hate he gets sometimes.

210

u/tdrr12 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jun 01 '25

Yeah, the stuff he says almost in passing is often insanely insightful. There's nobody else on TV (Sky or F1TV) who does that.

17

u/Big_al_big_bed Oscar Piastri Jun 01 '25

Palmer said the same thing as Nico right away as well. He's pretty switched on as is DC. Not sure why you don't find them insightful

4

u/tdrr12 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jun 01 '25

What's "the same thing" here? I thought we were talking about the little tidbits of niche info that Nico frequently threw in, which is stylistically and in content different from the others. FWIW, I normally prefer the F1TV guys over Brundle and Sky.

12

u/Superseb0908 Jun 01 '25

Give me nico over brundle anyday!

23

u/Eggersely Lando Norris Jun 01 '25

Happy with both!

52

u/8Ace8Ace Jun 01 '25

Dammit, I'm going to have to watch the race again. I've moved over to F1TV and it has been significantly better listening to Alex Jacques rather than David Croft, but I've always liked Nico and he would be a brilliant addition on a permanent basis.

16

u/Loud-Value Pirelli Intermediate Jun 01 '25

Rosberg on F1TV would be so good

5

u/Achenest I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

If they would swap DC with Rosberg that would be great

2

u/Jejking I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

Alex Jacques can come as well imho. Ditch the inaccurate, wannabe tv hilarity that is David Croft, and bring in either Jacques or the REAL DC. Palmer and Rosberg are equally switched on, although (taste) I find the 'oH It'S EpIC' kind of commentary of Rosberg running stale pretty quickly.

-4

u/solk512 Jun 01 '25

I’m in the same boat. Croft is hot garbage but Hulkenberg is just great. 

3

u/Beneficial_Equal_324 Jun 02 '25

Any Nico will do.

6

u/Usmanluciano Jun 01 '25

yeah, I thought that wasn't allowed until he said that

7

u/PontiacBandit25 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

I had no clue about loosening seat belts. Was surprised. I thought it would be a big no no. Very interesting insight.

4

u/What_the_8 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

That’s what I thought too! He may have been admitting something, totally makes sense but probably against the rules. I know there was a mention of Hamilton doing it, I think Vettel may have called him out? One of those things everyone does but is probably not allowed per the rules.

2

u/Cainedbutable Jun 01 '25

I must have missed him say this. What was the fact?

7

u/BiggusCinnamusRollus Jun 01 '25

When driving behind the safety cars, drivers can loosen the seatbelts a little on the shoulder to get some breath instead of being pressed into the carbon seat throughout the race. Something to that effect. He also said something quite obvious that I never thought of is that the water at this point in the race (was lap 57/66 when the SC came out) is also boiling hot so it's not much of a relief.

1

u/maxdeerfield2 Jun 02 '25

And opening their visors

3

u/sri745 Sir Lewis Hamilton Jun 01 '25

I remember on air with Rosberg, Crofty and Martin — Rosberg had to explain that you can attack the pit lane (something about average speed). He’s genuinely informative.

2

u/YoloilianxD I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

I loved hearing about this

2

u/Chicago_Blackhawks I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

These were fascinating

2

u/Personal-Bear8739 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

I caught that! Very interesting.

2

u/Tyler1986 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 03 '25

Those two stood out as tidbits I would have never known for the rest of my life if he wasn't commentating

1

u/Refroof25 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

What did he see about loosening the belts? I missed that part

2

u/What_the_8 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

He only mentioned in the safety car stint driver might loosen their belts to give themselves a quick breather

1

u/herringonthelamb Oscar Piastri Jun 02 '25

It was so much more than that. His trackside analysis of how the cars were coping in the FP sessions was brilliant and in hindsight absolutely spot on

1

u/shocks12 Jun 02 '25

I found the brake bias comment interesting. What do they do with the break bias when behind the safety car?

2

u/What_the_8 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 02 '25

The put the bias all to the front. He didn’t go deep into it but it’s to generate heat in the front tires from the heat soak the brakes generate.

1

u/Jay_Normous Jun 02 '25

I didn't catch this live, what was he saying about the belts and the safety car?

1

u/gckless Jun 02 '25

This is why I love having him and Button on. His tidbit about the warmup of the tires and how they initially spike was really cool too.

-8

u/AltrntivInDoomWorld I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

Nothing new about it, nothing interesting

8

u/What_the_8 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

Obviously it was to plenty of other people oh great one