Boxes: worst to best
Rating the commentary positions of England and Wales
As I drove around the Silverstone perimeter road last Saturday, against the flow of the International circuit, I was mildly stunned to find that the commentary box at Stowe, which I had been planning to spend my afternoon in describing the action at the 750 Motor Club meeting, no longer existed. In its place, a small pile of rubble.
And so it was that rather than commentating from opposite ends of the circuit, Marcus Pye and I spent the weekend next to one another in the box positioned next to the BRDC Farm at Abbey, doing our best to talk through the action with the limited, distant view from the window, and CCTV imagery from around the circuit. It wasn’t an altogether satisfactory way of doing it, and it inspired me to attempt to rank the commentary boxes of the UK and Ireland.
Not having commentated from the box at Mondello Park in almost 20 years, and having never ventured inside the positions at Kirkistown, Bishopscourt or Knockhill, I quickly realised I would be focusing on England and Wales, although I did decide to throw in Rockingham, having commentated there on many occasions before its closure in 2018.
I created a largely arbitrary scoring system combining four factors: whether the box is in the heart of the action or remote from it; the working environment (right amount of space and ability to regulate the temperature); the technology available; and, most importantly, the view. So here are my findings, ranked in ascending order.
18= Silverstone (Abbey), Cadwell Park (main)
The box that I worked in last week comes out joint bottom, and while technology is good – a laptop and printer for paper copies of grids and results is very welcome – it has too many flaws. You’re miles away from anything, there’s no facilities nearby, and the view is suboptimal. The box is directly at the end of the Hamilton straight, but at a shallow angle so you don’t get a great view of the start, which takes place a quarter of a mile away. Even the apex of Abbey is 150 metres distant. There is a fleeting view of the cars passing through Stowe (more than half a mile away), but other than that – nothing. As a result, it is tough to make a commentary flow, especially when it is the only box in operation.
In the main box at Cadwell, you are on top of the startline and get an excellent, close-up view, but besides that the view is limited, and you really do need the support of your colleague based at Charlies as otherwise you just get a flash of the cars turning towards the Mountain and another as they hurtle past the café and into Hall Bends. Last time I was there (in 2024), it was a hand-held mic and you had to listen to your co-commentator through a speaker rather than a headset, which isn’t ideal. And it can get very, very hot.
16 Cadwell Park (Charlies)
It is a shame that both of the boxes at Cadwell rank so low, because it is a great circuit to spectate at, and one of the most picturesque circuits in the country with a lot of effort made on the venue presentation. The view from Charlies is more extensive, with Park Straight and the Gooseneck also in view, but Park Corner and Mansfield are frustratingly out of view so there’s always some guesswork involved in calling the action. And, at the end of the day, the commentary box is a shed with equipment that hasn’t changed in all of the time I have worked there.
13= Oulton Park (both boxes) and Silverstone (Woodcote)
Both boxes at the Cheshire venue have their flaws. For the main box, situated in the paddock between the startline and Hall Bends, it is the low angle and really lousy view: just the start and finish straight (not a good one), Old Hall (but with the exit obscured by a building), and not much more than that. The geography of the circuit, and its vegetation, make siting a box with a view difficult, but this is far from ideal. The second box, at Knickerbook, has a better view of Cascades and the descent from Hill Top to the ascent up Clay Hill, but the equipment there can be frustratingly unreliable.
I haven’t actually worked from that latest iteration of the Woodcote box at Silverstone, which has moved around a bit. It is now situated on the inside of the corner, among hospitality units. I have spent some time in there, and again the view isn’t great, particularly of the all important start of the race as you are behind and to the side from a low angle, so it is hard to see what the front-runners are doing on their way towards Copse.
11= Anglesey and Snetterton
As we head towards mid-table we go to opposite sides of the country. Anglesey has spectacular views over the sea and the mountains of mainland North Wales, and you’re on top of the grid which is ideal for the start and end of the race. But on the most frequently-used Coastal circuit, what happens on the Banking, and through the second part of Rocket and Peel, remains a mystery to the commentary team, who work from a spacious box.
Snetterton, by contrast, is the most cramped main box in the country, and when two work there together it is a bit of a squeeze when laptops and folders full of notes come out. Again, there’s a decent view for the start and end of the race and of bits and pieces of the twisty 300 layout, although there’s a need to rely on jerky CCTV to see what is happening at certain corners.
8= Silverstone (Becketts), Thruxton (main), Castle Combe (Old Paddock)
The Becketts box at Silverstone is the best of them, because you’re closer to the action than at the others, with cars passing either side of you on the way into and out of Becketts, so it is quite a thrill to be there when the cars are circulating on the National layout. On the downside, it is the size of a shower cubicle.
There’s a rumour that Thruxton’s main box – currently situated in the airfield’s control tower – may be on the move. The rear-on view of the start of the race is compensated for by the sight of cars streaming up Woodham Hill and into the chicane, where there is usually a healthy turnout of spectators to make it feel like you’re really commentating at an event. (I haven’t rated the second box, at the complex, as I haven’t been there in well over a decade.)
Castle Combe’s outpost box gives a clear view of the cars from the exit of Quarry all the way towards Tower, although the corner can be a bit hidden. It is the commentary box where I do most waving, as the locals seem to enjoy waving to commentators and one feels one should reciprocate. PA man Kevin does a splendid job of setting the box up with power and a timing screen, but beyond that facilities are a little spartan.
6= Castle Combe (main box), Rockingham
The main box at Combe narrowly outscores its counterpart at the opposite end of the track, mainly because you’re right next door to race control and have the associated facilities. It is a shame that neither position has great views of Quarry, Tower, or Bobbies – where so much happens – but you can’t have everything.
The box at Rockingham was unique, in that it was situated in a row of glass-fronted boxes – media centre, hospitality, race control, and so on – in the main grandstand, so right in the heart of the action. The box itself was very small – just big enough for two people to stand in – which given the space available was a bit of a shame. And you could see everything, of course, although in way that created its own challenge, as something significant could have happened right in front of you which you missed because you were describing something else at the time.
4= Donington Park, Pembrey
The Donington Park box offers a good general view of the circuit, with binoculars a help to see what is going on at McLeans for example. There’s decent CCTV to help with the bits that you can’t see out of the window, including the final chicane on the National layout. The tech and facilities also score reasonably highly.
The Pembrey box is by far the largest I have worked in, so much so that (last time I worked there at least) you were provided with roaming mics so you could – wander around the commentary box, looking at the view out of a different window to commentate on the action from each corner, with most of the relatively short circuit in view.
2= Croft and Mallory Park
The Croft commentary box is a great vantage point, especially now it has effective air conditioning, and provides a space to work in that feels about the right size, and is close enough to the pit lane that you can wander down for post race interviews relatively easily. For a basically flat circuit the view is excellent, with only the Sunny complex obscured by the spectator banks, but with the complex at the end of the lap right alongside you.
Mallory Park is my home track and where I did my first commentary (although not from the current box) so inevitably I have a soft spot for it. There’s a 360-degree view of the oval part of the layout, with a decent CCTV shot of the hairpin when the system is working to give you everything you need to provide a flowing commentary. The technology available to us has recently been improved, too, and Mallory always delivers great racing.
1 Brands Hatch
This is the commentary box that has it all. The view of the Indy circuit (I haven’t commentated on racing on the Grand Prix track) is sublime, with only a short section of the Cooper Straight obscured, and the view at Druids supplemented by CCTV. The set-up is great, with plenty of space to work in freedom while feeling you are at the centre of the action, based atop the race control building in the inner paddock. I look forward to my annual visit to work from this, the best commentary box in the country.
