Martin Brundle

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Martin Brundle
Nationality Flag of United Kingdom British
World Championship Career
Active years 1984 – 1989, 1991 – 1996
Team(s) Tyrrell, Zakspeed, Williams, Brabham, Benetton, Ligier, McLaren and Jordan
Races 161
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podium finishes    9
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First race 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last race 1996 Japanese Grand Prix

Martin Brundle (born June 1, 1959 in King's Lynn, Norfolk) is an English motor racing and former Formula One driver known chiefly as the man who ran Ayrton Senna close in British Formula Three and as an ITV Sport F1 commentator.

Brundle never really got the breaks at the top level of single seaters, but when offered opportunities in other disciplines, he took them. He was the 1988 Worlds Sportscar Champion, with a record points haul, and won the 1990 Le Mans 24 hour Race for Jaguar in a XJR-12.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Early Formula One career

His Formula One career began with Tyrrell in 1984. He put in a number of aggressive and fast drives, finishing fifth in his first race and then second at Detroit. But then double disaster struck. At the Dallas Grand Prix, Brundle broke his ankles in a crash during a practice session. Then Tyrrell were disqualified from the world championship for 1984 due to a technical infringement. For the next two seasons he remained with Tyrrell, but without a works engine supply the team would struggle against the sport's giants. In 1987 he switched to Zakspeed, but managed only two points, the car unable to compete with the frontrunners.

Brundle at the 1990 IMSA Del Mar Grand Prix.
Brundle at the 1990 IMSA Del Mar Grand Prix.

[edit] Sportscars and Brabham

Four years of racing for underfunded teams led him to seek a new challenge. In 1988 he won his world sports car title, but also guested for Williams at the Belgian Grand Prix, after Nigel Mansell was struck down with chickenpox. In 1989 he returned to F1 full-time with the returning Brabham squad, but the former champions were unable to recapture their early 1980s success and Brundle opted to move back into the sports car arena for 1990. The Le Mans victory came that year and rejuvenated his career, but still a top-line race seat in Formula One eluded him. In 1991 he rejoined Brabham, but the squad had fallen even further down the grid and results were sparse.

[edit] Later career

Despite failing to grab headlines in 1991, Brundle finally got his big break for 1992, with a switch to Benetton, a team very much on the up.

Through years of inferior equipment and sabbaticals from F1, it was eight years before Brundle would legitimately claim a podium finish, although the top step eluded him. In 1992 he enjoyed by far his best season, with a very strong finish to the year. The closest he came to a win was in Canada, where in a race of attrition, Brundle looked to be favourite to inherit the lead before he himself broke down. He never managed to outqualify his illustrious team-mate Michael Schumacher, but in the second half of the year was regularly able to outrace the young German. At Spa, Brundle overtook the future champion. Schumacher noticed blisters on his team-mate's tyres and came in for slicks, a move that won him the race. Had Brundle not overtaken him, perhaps he may have pitted that crucial lap earlier, a victory the possible result.

Despite an excellent 1992, Brundle found himself dropped from Benetton for 1993, Italian Riccardo Patrese taking his place. Brundle came close to a dream deal with world champions Williams, but in the end Damon Hill won the drive instead. Still keen to stay in F1, Brundle found himself racing for Ligier in 1993. Another podium was achieved in a good season for the Brit.

Going into 1994 he had no contract, but was very much in the frame for the vacant McLaren seat alongside Mika Häkkinen. McLaren were hopeful of re-signing their former driver Alain Prost, at that time the reigning world champion. Prost, who had retired after winning his fourth title, decided not to return and so Brundle got the drive. It was a case of bad timing in many ways. McLaren were on a downturn and throughout 1994 were unable to win. The team's Peugeot engines were somewhat unreliable as was to be expected from a debuting engine supplier. At Silverstone Brundle's engine appeared to explode just as the starting lights turned green. In reality the culprit was a faulty clutch that cracked spilling its lubricants on top of hot engine causing a spectacular fire. Nevertheless, Brundle put in some strong performances that season, most noticeably at Monaco where he finished second only to Schumacher.

Having had poor luck and with Nigel Mansell signed to McLaren for 1995, Brundle once more raced for Ligier that year, although not for the full season. To appease Mugen-Honda he had to share the second seat with Aguri Suzuki, a move denounced by many commentators and fans. He impressed however, a strong fourth at Magny-Cours and what would be his last F1 podium at Spa, the highlights. In 1996 he teamed up with Rubens Barrichello at Jordan 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.

Although he never won a race, he 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 courses — Monaco, Adelaide and the Hungaroring each produced 4 points finishes for him.

[edit] Post Formula One

Brundle had hoped to stay in F1 beyond 1996, but could not find a seat, although he went on to star once more at Le Mans. Drives for Nissan, Toyota and Bentley impressed, but a second victory failed to materialise. Brundle's last Le Mans outing came in 2001, after which he focused on his role with the BRDC.

Having largely retired from motor racing, Brundle is now highly regarded as a commentator on British television network ITV, where he is co-commentator alongside James Allen and presenter of features (e.g. "F1 Insight" analysis segments, track guides and "grid walks") for the network's F1 coverage. He draws on his experience to provide depth to his commentary in a similar way to the "color commentators" on American TV. Brundle has won the RTS Television Sports Award for best Sports Pundit in 1998, 1999 and 2005. The judges described him as:

"...an outstanding operator at the very peak of his game – with an extraordinary ability to simplify and entertain in an often complex sport. He also exhibited a fearless authority on some of the most sensitive issues – not least his gimlet-eyed pursuit of Formula one boss Bernie Ecclestone on the grid at Indianapolis!" [1].

The production company responsible for ITV's F1 coverage, North One Television, also won the Sports Innovation Award for its Insight features, presented by Brundle.

Presently, he is also David Coulthard's manager, and co-owns a management company, 2MB Sports Management, alongside Mark Blundell. Their clients include McLaren test driver Gary Paffett and British Formula Three champion Mike Conway.

Brundle took the wheel of a Jaguar F1 car for the Formula One demonstration in London prior to the 2004 British Grand Prix and drove a BMW Sauber during a demonstration in 2006.

In 2004 he released his autobiography 'Working the Wheel'. The title is a reference to his 1996 crash in Melbourne.

His sports car prowess led to an invite to the 1990 International Race of Champions, a three-race series in 1990 because of the switch to Dodge cars, where he won the second round at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport during the Champcar event, albeit with eleven drivers racing as opposed to the series standard of twelve participants.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Team WDC Points
1984 Tyrrell BRA
DSQ
RSA
DSQ
BEL
DSQ
SMR
DSQ
FRA
DSQ
MON
DNQ
CAN
DSQ
USE
DSQ
USA
DNQ
GBR
GER
AUT
DUT
ITA
EUR
POR
Tyrrell - 0
1985 Tyrrell BRA
8
POR
Ret
SMR
9
MON
10
CAN
12
USA
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
7
GER
10
AUT
DNQ
DUT
7
ITA
8
BEL
13
EUR
Ret
RSA
7
AUS
NC
Tyrrell - 0
1986 Tyrrell BRA
5
ESP
Ret
SMR
8
MON
Ret
BEL
Ret
CAN
9
USA
Ret
FRA
10
GBR
5
GER
Ret
HUN
6
AUT
Ret
ITA
10
POR
Ret
MEX
11
AUS
4
Tyrrell 11th 8
1987 Zakspeed BRA
Ret
SMR
5
BEL
Ret
MON
7
USA
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
NC
GER
NC
HUN
Ret
AUT
DSQ
ITA
Ret
POR
Ret
ESP
11
MEX
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
Ret
Zakspeed 18th 2
1988 Williams BRA
SMR
MON
MEX
CAN
USA
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
7
ITA
POR
ESP
JPN
AUS
Williams - 0
1989 Brabham BRA
Ret
SMR
Ret
MON
6
MEX
9
USA
Ret
CAN
DNPQ
FRA
DNPQ
GBR
Ret
GER
8
HUN
12
BEL
Ret
ITA
6
POR
8
ESP
Ret
JPN
5
AUS
Ret
Brabham 20th 4
1991 Brabham USA
11
BRA
12
SMR
11
MON
EX
CAN
Ret
MEX
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
11
HUN
Ret
BEL
9
ITA
13
POR
12
ESP
10
JPN
5
AUS
DNQ
Brabham 15th 2
1992 Benetton RSA
Ret
MEX
Ret
BRA
Ret
ESP
Ret
SMR
4
MON
5
CAN
Ret
FRA
3
GBR
3
GER
4
HUN
5
BEL
4
ITA
2
POR
4
JPN
3
AUS
3
Benetton 6th 38
1993 Ligier RSA
Ret
BRA
Ret
EUR
Ret
SMR
3
ESP
Ret
MON
6
CAN
5
FRA
5
GBR
14
GER
8
HUN
5
BEL
7
ITA
Ret
POR
6
JPN
9
AUS
6
Ligier 7th 13
1994 McLaren BRA
Ret
PFC
Ret
SMR
8
MON
2
ESP
11
CAN
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
4
BEL
Ret
ITA
5
POR
6
EUR
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
3
McLaren 7th 16
1995 Ligier BRA
ARG
SMR
ESP
9
MON
Ret
CAN
Ret
FRA
4
GBR
Ret
GER
HUN
Ret
BEL
3
ITA
Ret
POR
8
EUR
7
PFC
JPN
AUS
Ret
Ligier 13th 7
1996 Jordan AUS
Ret
BRA
12
ARG
Ret
EUR
6
SMR
Ret
MON
Ret
ESP
Ret
CAN
6
FRA
8
GBR
6
GER
10
HUN
Ret
BEL
Ret
ITA
4
POR
9
JPN
5
Jordan 11th 8

[edit] Personal

  • Martin has a son, Alex, who in 2006 competed in the Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy [2] and a brother, Robin, who previously competed in Touring Cars and took part in the 2006 Goodwood circuit revival event.[3]

[edit] Trivia

  • Martin is statistically the most successful F1 driver, in terms of points scored, never to have won a race.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Raul Boesel
World Sportscar Champion
1988
Succeeded by
Jean-Louis Schlesser
Preceded by
Jochen Mass
Manuel Reuter
Stanley Dickens
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1990 with:
John Nielsen
Price Cobb
Succeeded by
Volker Weidler
Johnny Herbert
Bertrand Gachot