Martin Brundle

HOME

TheInfoList

Click Here for Items Related To - Martin Brundle

OR:

Martin Brundle on: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Amazon]

Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

, best known as a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver and as a commentator for

ITV Sport ITV Sport is a sport producer for ITV. It was formed following the merger between Granada Sport and Central Sport.BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

from 2009 to 2011, and

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

since 2012. Brundle contested the 1983 British Formula Three Championship, finishing a close second to

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...

, and the two progressed to Formula One the next year. Brundle was the 1988 World Sportscar Champion with

Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) was a motor racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976, in Kidlington, near Oxford, England, by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw. The company initially handled privateer work before entering works touring car r ...

, with a record points score; and won the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona, and the

1990 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 58th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 and 17 June 1990. Background Two chicanes were introduced along the Mulsanne Straight prior to the race. This was done to reduce the maximum speed of the cars ...

for

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...

Career

Early racing career

Brundle had an unorthodox route to

. He began his racing career at the age of 12, competing in grass track racing, in the

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

village of Pott Row. In 1975, he moved to Hot Rod racing and received 'Star grade' status. In 1979, he started single seater racing in

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

. During this time he also raced

Tom Walkinshaw Thomas Dobbie Thomson Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 – 12 December 2010) was a British racing car driver from Scotland and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). He was also involved in professional rugby union, as owner of ...

's BMW touring cars, during which he finished second against a field of international drivers at

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population o ...

. He won the BMW championship in 1980, and partnered

Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...

in the TWR-run BP/Audi team during the 1981 British Saloon Car Championship season. In 1982, he moved up to

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

achieving five pole positions and two wins in his debut season. He won the

Grovewood Award The Grovewood Awards (later becoming the Cellnet Awards and then the McLaren Autosport BRDC Awards) were a series of British motor racing awards presented each year in the United Kingdom to the year's up-and-coming British and Commonwealth racing d ...

as the most promising Commonwealth driver. The next year, he competed with

for the Formula Three championship, which Brundle lost on the final laps of the last race. In 1984, he was offered a Formula One entry.

Formula One (1984–1987)

His Formula One career began with the Tyrrell Racing Organisation in . He put in a number of aggressive and fast drives, finishing fifth in his first race in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and then second in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

before being disqualified. At the

1984 Dallas Grand Prix The 1984 Dallas Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 8, 1984 at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. It was the only running of the Dallas Grand Prix as a Formula One race, and the ninth race of the 1984 Formula One World Championship. Th ...

Brundle broke his ankles and both feet in a crash during a practice session, and was forced to miss the rest of the season while he recuperated; the severity of the damage to Brundle's left ankle initially led doctors to consider amputating his left foot. While Brundle did recover, the damage would leave him with permanent injuries, preventing him from running and

left-foot braking Left-foot braking is the technique of using the left foot to operate the brake pedal in an automobile, leaving the right foot dedicated to the throttle pedal. It contrasts with the practice of using the left foot to operate the clutch pedal, leavi ...

. Later in the year Tyrrell were disqualified from the World Championship due to a technical infringement and Brundle's achievements for that season were wiped from the record books. 1985 European GP Brundle 01

For the next two seasons he remained with Tyrrell, and despite the team's switch from the

Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had fo ...

to the turbocharged

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

engines in mid-, the team struggled against the works teams. He scored only eight points in his time with Tyrrell, all in the season. In he left Tyrrell and moved to the struggling

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

team

Zakspeed Zakspeed () is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and after that run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around from the Nürburgring circuit. 1973 to 1981: Saloon and s ...

, but scored only two points during the year; both were scored for finishing fifth at the

1987 San Marino Grand Prix The 1987 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 May 1987 at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola. It was the second race of the 1987 Formula One season. It was the seventh San Marino Grand Prix and it was held over 59 laps of t ...

. The Zakspeed 871 car was unable to compete with the front runners. The two points scored by Brundle in 1987 were the only points the Zakspeed team scored in their five-year (1985–89) run in Formula One. Ironically, the driver he replaced at Zakspeed, fellow Englishman

Jonathan Palmer Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British businessman and former Formula One racing driver. Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer trained as a physician at London's Guys Hospital. He also worked as a junior phys ...

, would join Tyrrell in 1987 who were once again using a

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...

engine. While Brundle only had one point scoring finish for the season, Palmer would go on to score six World Championship points for Tyrrell and would also win the Jim Clark Cup as the 'Atmo Champion' for drivers of cars with naturally aspirated engines.

Sportscars and Brabham (1988–1991)

Four years of Formula One racing for underfunded teams led Brundle to seek a new challenge, and thus in 1988 he took a year out. Brundle had been associated with Jaguar since 1983, when he drove TWR-prepared

Jaguar XJS The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. There were three distinct iterations, w ...

touring cars in the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

. From his two starts with the Jaguar team Brundle took two victories, the second in partnership with TWR owner

. When Jaguar decided to return to the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

and the American

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

championship, in partnership with TWR, Walkinshaw chose Brundle as his lead driver. The team performed well in the 1988 World Sportscar Championship season, and Brundle won the world sportscar title with a record points haul. He also won the

Daytona 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

the same year. He became the test driver for Williams and stood in for

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series ( 1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over ...

at the

1988 Belgian Grand Prix The 1988 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the XLVI Champion Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 28 August 1988. It was the eleventh race of the 1988 Formula One World Championship. The 43-lap ...

, after Mansell was struck down with

chickenpox Chickenpox, also known as varicella, is a highly contagious disease caused by the initial infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV). The disease results in a characteristic skin rash that forms small, itchy blisters, which eventually scab ...

. Brundle was to have driven Mansell's Williams- Judd again at the next race at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

but prior IMSA commitments with TWR saw the drive go to fellow World Sportscar Championship contender

Jean-Louis Schlesser Jean-Louis Schlesser (born 12 September 1948) is a French racing driver with experience in circuit racing and cross-country rallying. He is known for his wins of many different competitions. He is the nephew of Jo Schlesser, a former Formula O ...

instead (as no WSC race clashed with the Italian GP). Schlesser would infamously be involved in the incident which caused the retirement of

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

late in the race, handing the win to

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. He competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship ( and ), both times driving for Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix, ach ...

and causing McLaren's only loss of the season. 1989 Belgian GP race start 10

In he returned to Formula One full-time with the returning

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

team who would be running the Judd

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...

. But while the former champions were initially competitive, with Brundle running third at

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

until a flat battery forced him to pit for a replacement while his teammate

Stefano Modena Stefano Modena (born 12 May 1963) is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 81 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on November 15, 1987. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points. Career Modena was born in ...

finishing third, Brabham were unable to recapture their early past success and Brundle, who had failed to pre-qualify for both the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and French races during the season opted to move back into the sports car arena for 1990. His

victory rejuvenated his career, but still a top-line race seat in Formula One eluded him. As well as contesting races in sports prototypes, Brundle also contested the American

IROC International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was primar ...

series in 1990. He took victory at the temporary circuit at Burke Lakefront Airport (the only IROC victory for a British driver) and finished third in the overall standings. In 1991 he rejoined Brabham, but the squad had fallen even further down the grid and good results were sparse.

Formula One (1992–1996)

Seasoned observers noticed Brundle's drives into the points in the uncompetitive Brabham Yamaha in 1991, which was the last points finish for the Brabham team. This helped Brundle get a 1992 switch to Benetton, with whom he would finally claim a recognised podium finish and consistent points finishes with some gritty drives. In 1992 he had a productive season, with a strong finish to the year. He came close to a win at

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where having overtaken Schumacher and closing on leader Gerhard Berger, the transmission failed. He never outqualified teammate

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

, but made up places with excellent starts (sixth to third at Silverstone), outraced the German at Imola, Montreal, Magny-Cours and Silverstone, and scored a notable second place at Monza. At

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

, Brundle went by when Schumacher went off the track. Schumacher noticed blisters on his teammate's tyres on his return to the circuit and came in for slicks, a move that won him the race. Had Brundle not been distracted he would have pitted as planned at the end of that lap, with victory the most likely result. To the shock of the F1 paddock, Brundle found himself dropped from Benetton for 1993, Italian

Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to . He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, an ...

taking his place. He came very close to a seat with world champions Williams, but in the end

Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formu ...

got the drive instead. Still in demand within F1, Brundle raced for

Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champio ...

in 1993. More points finishes and a fine third at Imola were achieved in a car without active suspension. With finishing 7th in the World Drivers' Championship behind the two Williams drivers Alain Prost (1st) and Damon Hill (3rd), McLaren team leader Ayrton Senna (2nd), the Benetton drivers Michael Schumacher (4th) and Riccardo Patrese (5th) and the Ferrari driver Jean Alesi (6th), Brundle was the most successful driver who did not have an active suspension system in his car and Ligier were the most successful team without an active suspension. For 1994 Brundle was in the frame for the vacant

seat alongside

Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three Fo ...

. McLaren were hopeful of re-signing

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Mich ...

, who had retired at the end of 1993 after winning his fourth championship title, but decided not to renege on his retirement in March, and Brundle got the drive, beating out McLaren test driver

Philippe Alliot Philippe Alliot (born 27 July 1954) is a former racing driver who participated in Formula One from to and from to . He raced for RAM, Ligier, Larrousse and McLaren. Early career Prior to his career in Formula One he competed during 1976 and 19 ...

. He was confirmed less than two weeks before the season-opening 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix. Joining the team was a case of bad timing in many ways. McLaren were on a downturn and throughout 1994 were unable to win a Grand Prix for the first time since . The team's

V10 A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been pr ...

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

engines were unreliable, as was to be expected from a debuting engine supplier. In the first race Brundle narrowly escaped serious injury or worse in a spectacular accident involving

Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a former (Formula One) racing driver. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993. In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different t ...

; his helmet took a heavy blow as the Benetton cartwheeled overhead. At Aida his engine blew whilst running third while at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

his engine appeared to explode just as the starting lights turned green. In reality the culprit was a clutch that cracked spilling its lubricants on top of the hot engine causing a spectacular fire. The engine, once cleaned, worked without problem. Another sure third place was lost on the last lap in Hungary. Nevertheless, when the car was reliable, Brundle put in strong performances that season, most notably at

where he finished second to Schumacher. Martin Brundle 1995 Britain

Having had poor luck and with Mansell signed to McLaren for 1995, Brundle once more raced for Ligier that year, although not for the full season. To appease

Mugen-Honda Mugen Motorsports (無限), legally known as M-TEC Company, Ltd., is a Japanese company formed in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, and Masao Kimura. Mugen, meaning "without limit", "unlimited" o ...

he had to share the second seat with Aguri Suzuki, a move denounced by many commentators and fans. He impressed however, with a strong fourth at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is of ...

and what would be his last F1 podium, at

, being the highlights. In 1996 he teamed up with

Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and enjoyed a good season, despite a slow start and a spectacular crash at Melbourne's inaugural GP, with regular points, fourth his best result. He finished fifth in the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix, which was his last Grand Prix in Formula One. Brundle achieved 9 podiums, and scored a total of 98 championship points, with a best championship finish of 6th in 1992. He was especially strong on street circuits and similarly slow-speed, twisty courses – Monaco, Adelaide and the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone wan ...

each produced 4 points finishes for him.

After Formula One

Commentator

Brundle had hoped to stay in F1 beyond 1996, but could not find a seat. He was offered a seat at

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...

in 1997 following the dropping of

Nicola Larini Nicola Larini (born 19 March 1964) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 6 September 1987. He finished second in the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix on a substitute outing for Ferrari, but only ...

, but decided against it. Brundle did however return to Le Mans. Drives for

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

and

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...

impressed, but a second victory failed to materialise. Brundle returned to Le Mans in 2012 but previous to that last raced in 2001, between which he focused on his role with the

British Racing Drivers' Club The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, me ...

(BRDC).

Having largely retired from motor racing, Brundle became a highly regarded commentator on British television network

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, whom he joined when they began Formula One coverage in 1997, initially alongside

Murray Walker Graeme Murray Walker (10 October 1923 – 13 March 2021) was an English motorsport commentator and journalist. He provided television commentary of live Formula One coverage for the BBC between 1976 and 1996, and for ITV between 1997 and 20 ...

, and from 2002 James Allen. Brundle joined the BBC's commentary team alongside

Jonathan Legard Jonathan Legard (born 7 July 1961 in Cardiff, Wales), is a sports journalist, best known as the lead commentator for the BBC's Formula One TV coverage in 2009 and 2010. Legard has been the BBC's motor racing and football correspondent as well a ...

when they won back the rights to show F1 from 2009. Before the start of the season, the BBC announced that Brundle was being promoted to lead commentator and would be joined by fellow former F1 driver,

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...

. He signed for Sky Sports' coverage at the end of 2011. At Sky Brundle returned to a co-commentary role, working alongside lead commentator David Croft. For his television work Brundle has won the

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

Television Sports Award for best Sports Pundit in 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2006. In 2005 the judges described him as: The production company responsible for ITV's F1 coverage,

North One Television North One is a production company based in London and Birmingham, England. It was originally known as Chrysalis Television and is now part of All3Media. North One won a tender for a programme to accompany Channel 4 Channel 4 is a Brit ...

, also won the Sports Innovation Award for its Insight features, presented by Brundle. His pre-race grid walks are now customary and began at the

1997 British Grand Prix The 1997 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone on 13 July 1997. It was the ninth round of the 1997 Formula One season. Jacques Villeneuve won the race despite being stuck in the pitlane for half ...

. Discussing the return of Formula One to the BBC in 2009, ''The Times'' described Brundle "as the greatest TV analyst in this or any other sport." Before becoming a regular commentator, Brundle was also part of the 1995 BBC commentary team whenever Aguri Suzuki was driving the

- Mugen Honda, such as the

1995 San Marino Grand Prix The 1995 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 April 1995 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola. It was the third race of the 1995 Formula One season. Following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at ...

. He also commentated on

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

for a handful of qualifying sessions in 1995. With Steve Rider busy covering the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

versus

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

2010 FIFA World Cup Group 6 qualification match, Brundle co-commentated and presented coverage of the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix at

Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and nati ...

Motorsport activities

Brundle took the wheel of a

Jaguar F1 Jaguar Racing is the name given to Jaguar Land Rover's racing interests. It currently competes in Formula E under the name Jaguar TCS Racing as a result of the partnership with Tata Consultancy Services. It was previously a Formula One construc ...

car for the Formula One demonstration in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

prior to the

2004 British Grand Prix The 2004 British Grand Prix (formally the 2004 Formula 1 Foster's British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit on 11 July 2004. It was Race 11 of 18 in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. Background ...

and drove a

BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s (often under Formula Two regulations), before building th ...

during a demonstration in 2006. Also in 2006, Brundle drove a 2005

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...

car around Silverstone as part of ITV's 'F1 Insight' feature. This was followed up in 2007 with Brundle and colleague Blundell both driving

Williams F1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Head ...

cars to demonstrate overtaking. In 2008 he came out of retirement to drive in the

Formula Palmer Audi Formula Palmer Audi, officially abbreviated to FPA, and sometimes informally abbreviated to Palmer Audi, was a one-make class of open wheel Formula racing founded in 1998 by former Formula One driver, Jonathan Palmer. It was based in the United ...

Championship alongside his son Alex, who was a series regular. He scored three top-eight finishes from the three races in which he took part. Brundle came out of retirement again to race for

United Autosports United Autosports is a sports car racing team, founded by American businessman and entrepreneur Zak Brown and former British racing driver Richard Dean. In 2020, United Autosports became the first ever team to win the prestigious 24 Hours of ...

in the 2011 Daytona 24 Hours, sharing a Ford-powered Riley with

Zak Brown Zakary Challen Brown (born November 7, 1971) is an American businessman and former professional racing driver, currently residing in England. He is chief executive officer of McLaren Racing with overall responsibility for the business, includi ...

, Mark Patterson and former Ligier and Brabham teammate Blundell; the team finished fourth overall. In June 2011, shortly before the 2011 European Grand Prix, Brundle completed a one-off Formula One test for the series' tyre supplier

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyre ...

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...

. He completed a total of 70 laps on all of their tyre compounds, with the results and events of the day aired before the 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix. In June 2012, Brundle made a return to competitive racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, teaming up with son Alex to race a Greaves Motorsport-run Zytek-Nissan LMP2. His first appearance at the French classic in over a decade, Brundle worked hard to get back into adequate physical condition – using his son's race-training exercise programme for a year in preparation. Their car finished 15th out of the 56 runners, completing 340 laps.

Other activities

Historic F1-Cars Spielberg 2022 Benetton B192 (1)

Brundle has been involved in driver management. At present, he is David Coulthard's manager (as well as his former co-commentator). He co-owned a management company, 2MB Sports Management, alongside

Mark Blundell Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British racing driver who competed in Formula One for four seasons, sports cars, and CART. He won the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the en ...

until January 2009, when he announced his intention to step down in order to focus on his television responsibilities and his son's career. Their clients include

test driver

Gary Paffett Gary Paffett (born 24 March 1981 in Bromley) is a British racing driver. Having become a household name in the DTM, following fifteen years in the series and two championship wins, Paffett moved onto Formula E for the 2018/19 championship, afte ...

and British Formula 3 champion

Mike Conway Mike Conway (born 19 August 1983) is a British professional racing driver. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent and is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. Biography Conway who was born in Bromley, Lo ...

. Brundle presented a documentary on British television in 1998 called ''Great Escapes'', which showed generally live recordings, and occasionally reconstructions, of stories where human beings managed to somehow survive in face of various dangers or perils. It ran for one series on

. In 2004 he released his first book ''Working the Wheel''. The title is a reference to his 1996 crash in Melbourne. In June 2013 he released his second book ''The Martin Brundle Scrapbook'', co-authored with Philip Porter, a biography that tells the story of his life through memorabilia, news cuttings and photographs. On Friday 13 February 2009, Brundle presented ''

BBC Look East ''BBC Look East'' is the name of two separate BBC regional television news programmes for the East of England made by BBC East. History The first BBC television news bulletins for the East of England began on 5 October 1959. These bulletins ...

s 6.30 pm bulletin, with Susie Fowler-Watt, reproducing his famous gridwalk.

Criticism of Max Mosley and the FIA

In September 2007, he suggested that the treatment of McLaren "had the feel of a witch hunt" in his ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' column. As a result of these comments, Brundle and the ''Sunday Times'' received a French writ from

Max Mosley Max Rufus Mosley (13 April 1940 – 23 May 2021) was a British racing driver, lawyer, and president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), a non-profit association which represents the interests of motoring organisations and ...

and the FIA for libel. In the same column on 9 December 2007 he accused the FIA of double standards and of issuing the writ at the same time as clearing Renault of spying as a warning to other journalists:

The timing of the writ is significant, in my view, given the FIA's decision to find Renault guilty of having significant McLaren designs and information within their systems, but not administering any penalty. It is a warning sign to other journalists and publications to choose their words carefully over that decision. I'm tired of what I perceive as the "spin" and tactics of the FIA press office, as are many other journalists. I expect my accreditation pass for next year will be hindered in some way to make my coverage of F1 more difficult and to punish me. Or they will write to ITV again to say that my commentary is not up to standard despite my unprecedented six
Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
Awards for sports broadcasting. So be it.

Brundle also asserted his right to voice his opinion about Formula One:

As a former Formula One driver, I have earned the right to have an opinion about the sport, and probably know as much about it as anybody else. I have attended approaching 400 grands prix, 158 as a driver. I have spilt blood, broken bones, shed tears, generated tanker loads of sweat, tasted the champagne glories and plumbed the depths of misery. I have never been more passionate about F1 and will always share my opinions in an honest and open way, knowing readers will make up their own minds.

In March 2008, Brundle voiced his opinion regarding the position of Max Mosley following the ''News of The World's'' allegation that Mosley had engaged in sexual acts with five prostitutes in a scenario that involved

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

role-playing; saying "It's not appropriate behaviour for the head of any global body such as the FIA." In April, Brundle argued:

The specific detail of the scandal surrounding him is largely irrelevant, in my view. The sporting regulation he has used over the years to keep teams in check relates to bringing the sport into disrepute. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Sitting on the fence on this issue for any of us inside the sport is not an option. We must condone or condemn the situation he finds himself in. Mosley's position as president is untenable.

Helmet

Brundle's helmet was white with two red stripes and a blue stripe between the two red stripes (inspired by the British flag) from the chin to the back of the helmet. In 1996, a golden ring (with either 'Benson and Hedges' or 'Brundle' written on it) and a blue drawing resembling a B (a representation of his trademark "start the engine" gesture) were added.

Personal life

The son of a motor car dealer, he and his brother Robin took over the family car dealership from their father. The business closed in 2003 after losing the local

and

franchises. Robin is also a racing driver, who competes in historic racing events, and was managing director of

Lola Cars Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England (then in Kent, now part of Greater London), before moving to new premises in S ...

. Brundle is married to Liz and they have a daughter, Charlie, and a son, Alex. Alex has followed his father in pursuing a career in driving; he competed in the 2012 GP3 Series and the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

. Brundle has always lived within a 10-mile radius of King's Lynn, and currently lives in

Gayton, Norfolk Gayton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located east of King's Lynn and north-west of Norwich, along the Gaywood River and the B1145 between King's Lynn and Mundesley. History Gayton's name is of ...

. In 2017, Brundle disclosed that while covering the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix for

, he suffered a heart attack whilst running to do the podium interviews.

Legacy

In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Brundle was ranked the 30th best Formula One driver of all time. Motion picture writer/director

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation ...

, a motor racing enthusiast, named the protagonist of his 1986 film '' The Fly'' "Seth Brundle" after Martin Brundle. The protagonist of the film's sequel, ''

The Fly II ''The Fly II'' is a 1989 American science fiction horror film directed by Chris Walas. The film stars Eric Stoltz and Daphne Zuniga, and is a sequel to the 1986 film '' The Fly'', itself a remake of the 1958 film of the same name. Stoltz's charac ...

'' (1989) is Seth Brundle's son "Martin Brundle."

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Brundle was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.) † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

Complete British Formula 3 results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Brundle was ineligible to score points as he was using European specification tyres.

Allen Berg Allen Bernard Berg (born August 1, 1961) is a Canadian former racing driver who raced for the Osella team in Formula One. Racing career Berg was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He began in karting in 1978 and switched to cars when he was ...

therefore secured maximum points at this round.

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † Not eligible for points.

Complete Formula One results

(

) ;Notes * – Tyrrell were disqualified from the entire world championship for 1984 due to a technical infringement. *^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

* After electrical problems with his own car, Brundle replaced Eliseo Salazar in the Jaguar #3 car en route to victory.

Complete WRC results

References

External links