Scarlett Archer interview - Top of the Grid host and F1 commentator

How did you get into Formula 1 commentating?  It’s pretty amazing!

I've been working for Sky News for a while. I've had so many amazing opportunities. Before that, I was doing some modeling and some adverts. And I've always had a bit of a passion for Formula One, because of my dad, I've grown up with him watching Formula One. And my cousin in Canada, he made a go-kart one time when I was there, by himself. He's not much older than me, just when we were really young. And so, I was having some fun in that.

My family in Canada have always watched Formula One, but I always noticed that it was my uncles and my grandparents and my dad who were watching it, and then all my female cousins and aunts would go and do something else. So I'd watch it, and I'd be like, “Oh, maybe I should not be here. Maybe I should go and, you know, see what my female side of my family is doing.” So I usually did that, but I always had, like, a weird interest for it; I think it was just because I watched it, and I was like, how are they going this quick?  The cars look the same, but, you know, they're different. They've got different designs. You know, all the drivers are different. So it just, it really intrigued me. I was just so interested in how they could actually go that quick!  And I always wondered how the drivers felt in the car.

And then at Sky, I heard them saying that they wanted to make Formula One a bit more fresh, and, like, get more young people involved. Because, you know, a lot of the time when people think about it, they think of men. They think of older men. And, you know, they don't really think about young people, especially females, getting into it. So I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is perfect for me. I already have a passion for it, and, you know, it's something that I think is really important getting, you know, more females and especially more young people into the sport, because it's such an amazing sport, I mean, and it's not just about the driving, like, there's so many aspects to it.”  I really wanted people to understand that.

I made so many notes. I made driver, like Top Trump cards, I mean, driver, everything! I made a folder with all the notes in. And then when it came to picking someone, someone to go to Bucharest for the Grand Prix, they ended up taking me along with some other people on the show. So I got to do that. And I just, I loved it.

I've got to say, the first time I did the commentary, I had no idea what I was in for. I got in there and I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is actually really hard!”  But the first kind of experience I had within Formula One, I got to meet all the drivers.  I was having so much fun. And since then, I've been commentating on the races. And actually, no, that's wrong, the first experience I had was with Sebastian Vettel!  But since then, I've just been doing commentary on the races.

It's a lot of fun, but I definitely learned a lot because I did not realise how hard it is. Being in there for three hours. I sit down while I do it, but I get out and it's literally like I’ve run a marathon, like I'm so tired after I do it. That was a very long explanation, but that's basically how I got into it.

Perfect. How did you amass so much information about Formula One? Was it literally just research, research, research. Did Sky Sports open the door for you to be able to go and talk to some of the teams? How did you amass all this information to get you into the position to be able to commentate? Because you need information at your fingertips when you're commentating.

Yeah, definitely.  Well, I made most of my research myself. So I searched everything up, and every time I do a race, I print out maps of the track, and then I write things on there. I also tried to do a bit of carting so I can understand exactly how the drivers are feeling. I'm not very good at it. I'm not very good. I'm getting better, but I'm really I'm not very good. It's because I get in the car and I don't want to use the brake. For some reason my body says no, so then I crash, and then I get taken off, and then I get put back on, and then I do it again. They take me off, but I'm getting better at actually using the brake. But every time I go carting my commentary, I feel, gets better, because I actually understand how driving feels, and I've heard people say that before. I never really thought that it would make that much of a difference. But it actually does. I always think that the best commentators are people who have an experience driving, you know, with anything like, you know, a lot of football commentators are footballers because they understand the sport so much. I always find that that helps me.

And also, speaking to people at F1 and also, as you said, Drive to Survive, because that really gives you that personal kind of idea of the drivers, which I think really helps me and even, it sounds crazy, but following their Instagram: I find things out about them that I can mention on the show, because it is like a broadcast for show for children. So there's loads of extra things, so I don't have to be too technical.  I find that knowing these extra facts about the drivers that I've just found from their social media, maybe about their pets, I can bring into the broadcast. And that's what young people like knowing. You need to teach them about you know what DRS stands for but they like it. I really think the most helpful things are definitely the research I did myself.  If I watched the first time I did commentary, it was not very good. So I think since then, I just realized that I really need to be on it with all my facts and statistics. So I do most of it myself, but just speaking to people like interviewing drivers, it makes me so much better.  Everyone is so helpful; we all share notes with each other.

Tell me what you know about the Formula 1 Academy and how that’s building within Formula One.

I was there on launch day, and I met Jess Edgar, and it was just incredible.  I was so happy to see it, somewhere where females could all be together, doing what they love. And also I like how it's not watered down, it's normal racing, you know. Every driver there deserves to be there. And they are amazing. I think it's amazing that there is somewhere that appreciates women. And they've got their new Netflix show coming out, which my mum and I are so excited to watch, because we've watched Drive to Survive and I've got to see this one.

I'm going to meet up with Abby Pulling soon, maybe to do an interview or something, which would be absolutely incredible, because she's a driver. But I just think it's amazing initiative.

And I can't wait to see a female driver, in Formula One, because I know it's going to happen.

So that's your opinion, is that one day we’ll have women and men?

I definitely think so. Because the thing is, there's absolutely no reason in the whole entire universe why a man would be better at driving than a woman, because the only thing that it's down to is numbers.

You know, we see men and women going, ‘Men are just better.’ It's not that; it's because you see a million times more men moving up the ranks than women, because there aren’t as many opportunities. I mean, you know, you can get into karting, but statistically, women get into karting later than men. I know that there's more getting into it earlier, but, you know, it's not as popular as a sport for women, because it's not targeted at women. We're definitely seeing more and more.   

It has nothing to do with weight: I mean, being lighter is better for driving, and women, you know, biologically, are usually lighter than men. So that's not it, and it's nothing about mindset. Because, you know, every man and woman have a different mindset. It's not like you're going to be a fierce, fast driver if you're a man and you're going to be a slow driver if you're a woman.  There's no logical reason at all. So I definitely think it is difficult, because obviously, as I said, the numbers of women getting into it are less than men. But if the sport continues for many, many years, which I think it will, then I definitely think we'll see a female in Formula One.

When you talk to the male drivers, whether you've ever brought up with the idea of competing against women, if you have what's their reaction?

I remember, it might have been a McLaren driver, saying that, he was completely open to it, and that they'd love to see more females. I remember, actually, I spoke to Lewis Hamilton, I remember, and I think I asked him, ‘Do you think we'll see a female? And then, if so, if you'd want to race against a female, and if you're open to that?’ And he said, ‘Definitely.’ And he said, kind of the same thing that I said: It's all down to numbers, and that females definitely have the capability. I remember him saying something about being completely open to racing against a woman.

Do you feel like the big names like McClaren, Ferrari, Red Bull are investing enough in women and girls?

I think that there's always going to be more that every team can do, really, because obviously, we know that Formula One is a sport that has a lot of money. I think there's always going to be more that they can do, because there are more opportunities for men.  I'm not saying take the opportunities away from the men, because there are incredible men within the sport, but if they could include more females within those events, decisions, you know, and maybe just get more females in the paddock, in the pit lane learning, then I think that would be amazing.  You can say you're doing stuff, but it never seems like enough until we see more females in the sport, more females moving up the rank, a female in Formula One.  Then I think we'll see that that's enough.

Are you seeing more women behind the scenes? Do you think that numbers are growing?

I don't think I really am.  When I look back at the pit lane and stuff, I usually just see men. I see the odd woman.  There was the first female engineer in Formula One. But I definitely notice in the pit lane there's are significantly fewer women than men. But I've seen an increase since I've been working in Formula 1.

How does that make you feel when you're in the pit lane? You know that you're, you're in a very male dominated environment. You're very articulate, and you seem very confident. But it doesn't mean that it's not an intimidating environment to be working in. How do you feel?

I definitely noticed it.  I remember very vividly the first time I went into the commentary booth. No one said anything to me about being a female but because of things I had in my head already, I got in there, and I was 10 minutes into doing it, and I looked around, and there were five people in there, and everyone was a man. No one really said anything to me, but it was just in my head. And I was like, ‘Everyone here's a boy.  Why?’ I kind of doubted why I was there. Why have I been picked to do this? And I feel like there's always that feeling of, it sounds bad, but did they pick me because I'm a girl and they want to have a girl in it?

I've kind of gotten over that because I know that I put a lot of work into it. And you know, you can't really just get anyone who doesn't know about the sport to do it, because commentary is quite hard. I'm here for a reason, but I always have it in my head. I've noticed when I've been doing more commentary on F1 kids: we have a lead commentator now, she's really great, and she's a female. So, since she's come in, I'm like, ‘Yeah, there are more females here.’  But at first, every time I went in, it would just be boys, and I'd be like, ‘You know, this is weird.  I'm the only girl here,’ and it wasn't necessarily a negative thing.  And as I said, no one said anything to me. I think it's just because I've heard so much about it before that I had that in the back of my mind; I put it there. But I do notice myself thinking it from time to time.

What does the future hold for you with regards to your career? Do you see a future in journalism, sports journalism, Formula One, or is there something else? Is this just a fun hobby at the moment?

Well, you know, it's quite hard to know.  You don't know how long you're going to be doing something for. But I'm doing my A-levels and I didn't realize how much harder A levels are from GCSEs.  I went to sixth form, and I was filming twice a week. I was missing school, and then it got to a couple months in, and I realized I didn’t know what was going on, because the courses were so full on.  I was getting really stressed out, so I cut back on my filming a bit, just because I can't do well when I'm filming if I'm worried about my schoolwork, because I think balance is the most important thing. And I'm quite I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

I'm hoping to do more commentary for this season, which would be really great. And I've started a podcast as well. It's called Top of the Grid - the first episode came out last week. It's all about empowering women. But then we didn't want to alienate the men! We’re talking about how more women can get into the sport. I'm doing that, and then just some odd reports, because I still do political things.  So a little bit of everything in my future. Yeah, I'm quite busy!  But when I'm older, I definitely want to keep doing journalism. I really, really, really love sports and doing something to do with women in sports.  Some areas of it are quite, not crowded, but you know, there's a lot of people wanting to break into that. I'd like to do something to do with women in sports, because I'm really passionate about it. I did some stuff with The Hundred, which was brilliant. I love doing that. I'm really passionate about sports and about getting more females into sport. But then I love the political side as well, because I've interviewed quite a few politicians and prime ministers, and I love that. So maybe if I could talk to them about getting more females in sports, then that could be a whole thing. But I'm definitely going to do this when I'm older.

Do you play sports in your very busy life? Do you actively participate in any sports?

My dad used to do mountaineering, and we live in Sheffield, so we're very close to the Peak District. So when it's sunny, then we always go bouldering in the Peak District. I love it, but because it's a bit cooler now, then I just go bouldering indoors. I've been doing that since I was really young, and I really love climbing. I don't know why. I just love it, and it's an amazing exercise.  It's a whole-body exercise.  I had a break from climbing, and then I went back, and I'd lost so much strength, and I didn't realize how amazing it is for you. And I love being outside and climbing, because we can bring our dog, and then she has a nice walk while we're climbing. And I love the fresh air. And then if you go at a certain time, you can see the sunset. So, I love that. Also, I do running as well.

Thank you Scarlett! We loved chatting to you. I hope we can stay in touch.

Thank you so much, because I love talking about women in sports, because it's so important. And I feel like sometimes, some places just mention it, to be able to tick a box and say that they've spoken about women in sports. So, I think it's really important that there are places, where they are really passionate, and really proactive about getting more females into sport. Speaking out about it because it is important.

It always upsets me when I talk to girls who think that they can't do racing, or they can't do something because someone said something to them, or because they look on the TV and they only see boys, when there's no sport that is for a boy and one that's for a girl. You know, there might be no male teams and female teams, but there's no sport that isolates a man or a woman. We all have different strengths, and as you said, there's a sport for absolutely everyone. You know, it can be a really small level or, you know, a really high level, but, when I was doing my GCSE exams, if I went for a short walk in between, my brain started to switch off, I'd go for a quick walk, come back and I could do it. it's just so good for you. It's not just about, you know, being part of a sport, but it's about friends, the fitness you get is everything.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Scarlett. Thank you