02 June 2023 , 18:12
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Formula 1 commentator David Croft joked that he might have got into trouble with his fiancee after recreating a proposal at the Spanish Grand Prix with colleague Naomi Schiff.
Sky Sports cameras were on hand to capture a sweet moment in the Barcelona pit lane on Friday when a man proposed to his partner in front of the Red Bull garages. It was after the on-track action was concluded during The F1 Show that presenter Rachel Brookes revisited that proposal.
But as she began talking about it, it became clear that her production colleagues did not have the footage quite ready when she introduced it. So she jokingly suggested that her colleagues Croft and Schiff should recreate it while they waited.
They were happy to oblige and so Croft prepared to act out the gesture as he said: "I actually did this on Christmas Day – not to Naomi, who is sadly still waiting for her proposal – but he got down one knee, didn't he..."
He had just begun to bend his own knee when Brookes spared his blushes by pointing out that they were now ready to show the footage of the actual proposal which had taken place earlier that day. And, as she later pointed out, it was probably for the best.
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"You could have got in a lot of trouble just then, when you went down on one knee," she told Croft after the clip had played, before the commentator explained why. He replied: "Yes, my fiancee is stood just over there. She knows it was all just for the drama."
The happy couple who really got engaged were interviewed by Sky's Craig Slater (Sky Sports)Sky reporter Craig Slater managed to catch up with the actual couple shortly after the proposal, who had made the trip from Latvia to watch the race. The man, Valeri, told him: "I work for Red Bull in Latvia, where I manage all the party venues."
Of the proposal, he added: "It's really had to make a surprise for her and I thought today is the day that I should do it, for two reasons – the paddock tour and the proposal." And it went down very well with his partner Aggie, who was over the moon with the proposal right in front of Max Verstappen's car.
She said: "Literally five minutes ago I was talking with my friend outside on the phone and I told her I knew it was going to be a big weekend. Maybe he's going to bring me to the paddock, maybe he's going to propose. The best would be if he proposed to me in the paddock and, five minutes later, he was here on his knee. It's just unbelievable."