Criticism of Formula 1: 'Why not Bahrain right away as the season opener?'

"I don’t know why we didn’t or the F1 didn’t look at Bahrain as a season opener right from the outset, without trying to sound too negative towards the organizers of the Australian Grand Prix," Croft said in a Sky Sports broadcast on Tuesday. "They were never going to get that race on in Albert Park at the start of the year."

Bahrain would have been a "much more sensible" choice, according to the F1 commentator. "We always get good racing in Bahrain. They are very much advanced in their vaccination programme and their track and tracing programme as well, so they are able to cope better with having F1," he added.