Martin Brundle
Martin John Brundle is a British former racing driver and broadcaster who competed in Formula One from to. In endurance racing, Brundle won the World Sportscar Championship in 1988 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in, both with Jaguar; he also won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1988 with Jaguar. Since retiring from racing, Brundle has been a commentator for ITV, the BBC, and Sky.
Born and raised in King's Lynn, Norfolk, Brundle began competing in grass track racing aged 12 in a self-built Ford Anglia, before moving into Hot Rod racing. After several seasons in the British Saloon Car Championship, Brundle progressed to British Formula Three in 1982. He finished runner-up to Ayrton Senna the following season amidst a close title battle. Both progressed to Formula One in, with Brundle joining Tyrrell and making his debut at the, where he finished fifth; he took his maiden podium at the, but was later disqualified from the season after the discovery of a technical infringement on the 012. After another non-classified championship finish in, Brundle scored his first credited points with another fifth-place at the 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix. Brundle signed for Zakspeed in, but left after one season to join Jaguar in sportscar racing, whom he had already won several races for in the European Touring Car Championship. Brundle won the World Sportscar Championship in record-breaking fashion that season, as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Brundle returned to Formula One in with Brabham, having already stood in for Nigel Mansell at Williams for the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix. He split his two seasons at Brabham with another season at Jaguar, this time winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving the XJR-12. Brundle joined Benetton in to partner Michael Schumacher, achieving five podium finishes and finishing a career-best sixth in the World Drivers' Championship. He scored a further podium with Ligier at the in, before moving to McLaren for. Brundle finished seventh in the championship for the second successive season with McLaren, with a second-placed finish at the. He returned to Ligier in, scoring another podium in Belgium. Brundle retired from Formula One at the end of his season with Jordan, having achieved nine podiums across 12 seasons.
Upon retiring from motor racing, Brundle moved into commentary, working as an analyst on Formula One coverage for ITV Sport, BBC Sport and Sky Sports F1, the latter of which was the official global broadcast until 2022. In rallying, he competed in the Rally of Great Britain in 1999. His son Alex is also a racing driver, who won the 2016 European Le Mans Series in the LMP3 class. Brundle was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2025 New Year Honours.
Career
Early racing career
Brundle had an unorthodox route to Formula One. He began his racing career at the age of 12, competing in grass track racing in a self-built Ford Anglia, in the Norfolk village of Pott Row. In 1975, he moved to Hot Rod racing and received 'Star grade' status. In 1977, he debuted in the British Saloon Car Championship just a couple of months short of turning 18, becoming the series' youngest ever driver. In 1979, he started single seater racing in Formula Ford. During this time, he also raced Tom Walkinshaw's BMW touring cars, during which he finished second against a field of international drivers at Snetterton. He won the BMW championship in 1980, and partnered Stirling Moss in the TWR-run BP/Audi team during the 1981 British Saloon Car Championship season. In 1982, he moved up to Formula Three achieving five pole positions and two wins in his debut season. He won the Grovewood Award as the most promising Commonwealth driver. The following year, he competed with Ayrton Senna 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.Tyrrell and Zakspeed (1984–1987)
Brundle's 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 and then second in Detroit, crossing the line less than a second behind race winner Nelson Piquet. At the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix, 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. Later in the year, Tyrrell were disqualified from the World Championship due to a technical infringement and Brundle's achievements for that season, including his Detroit podium, were wiped from the record books.For the next two seasons he remained with Tyrrell, and despite the team's switch from the Cosworth DFV to the turbocharged Renault engines in mid-, the team struggled against the works teams. Due to Tyrrell's disqualification from the 1984 season, Brundle was only credited with eight points in his time with the team, all in the season.In, Brundle left Tyrrell and moved to the struggling West German team Zakspeed, but scored only two points during the year; both were scored for finishing fifth at the 1987 San Marino Grand Prix. 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 run in Formula One. Ironically, the driver he replaced at Zakspeed, fellow Englishman Jonathan Palmer, would join Tyrrell in 1987 who were once again using a Cosworth 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.
That October, Brundle competed in a Ford Escort Celebrity race at Brands Hatch and finished 6th.
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 touring cars in the European Touring Car Championship. From his two starts with the Jaguar team Brundle took two victories, the second in partnership with TWR owner Tom Walkinshaw. When Jaguar decided to return to the World Sportscar Championship and the American IMSA 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 same year. He became the test driver for Williams and stood in for Nigel Mansell at the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix, after Mansell was struck down with chickenpox. Brundle was to have driven Mansell's Williams-Judd again at the next race at Monza in Italy but prior IMSA commitments with TWR saw the drive go to fellow World Sportscar Championship contender Jean-Louis Schlesser instead. Schlesser would infamously be involved in the incident which caused the retirement of McLaren's Ayrton Senna late in the race, handing the win to Ferrari's Gerhard Berger and causing McLaren's only loss of the season.In, Brundle returned to Formula One full-time with the returning Brabham team who would be running the Judd V8 engine. But while the former champions were initially competitive, with Brundle running third at Monaco until a flat battery forced him to pit for a replacement while his teammate Stefano Modena finishing third, Brabham were unable to recapture their early past success and Brundle, who had failed to pre-qualify for both the Canadian and French races during the season opted to move back into the sports car arena for 1990. His 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans 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 series in 1990. He took victory at the temporary circuit at Burke Lakefront Airport 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.
Benetton, Ligier, McLaren and Jordan (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, Brundle had a productive season, with a strong finish to the year. He came close to a win at Canada, where having overtaken Schumacher and closing on leader Gerhard Berger, the transmission failed. He never outqualified teammate Michael Schumacher, but made up places with excellent starts, outraced the German at Imola, Montreal, Magny-Cours and Silverstone, and scored a notable second place at Monza. At Spa, 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.
File:Martin Brundle - Ligier JS39 during practice for the1993 British Grand Prix.jpg|left|thumb|Brundle driving for Ligier at the 1993 British Grand Prix
To the shock of the F1 paddock, Brundle found himself dropped from Benetton for 1993, Italian Riccardo Patrese taking his place. He came very close to a seat with world champions Williams, but in the end Damon Hill got the drive instead. Still in demand within F1, Brundle raced for Ligier 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 and Damon Hill, McLaren team leader Ayrton Senna, the Benetton drivers Michael Schumacher and Riccardo Patrese and the Ferrari driver Jean Alesi, 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.
File:Martin Brundle - Mclaren MP4-9 at the 1994 British Grand Prix.jpg|thumb|Brundle driving the McLaren MP4/9 at the 1994 British Grand Prix
For 1994 Brundle was in the frame for the vacant McLaren seat alongside Mika Häkkinen. McLaren were hopeful of re-signing Alain Prost, 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. 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 Peugeot 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; his helmet took a heavy blow as the Benetton cartwheeled overhead. At Aida his engine blew whilst running third while at Silverstone 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 Monaco where he finished second to Schumacher.
File:Martin Brundle 1995 Britain.jpg|thumb|right|Brundle driving for Ligier at the 1995 British Grand Prix.
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 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 and what would be his last F1 podium, at Spa, being 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. He finished fifth in the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix, which was his last Grand Prix in Formula One.
Brundle achieved nine podiums, and scored a total of 98 championship points, with a best championship finish of sixth in 1992. He was especially strong on street circuits and similarly slow-speed, twisty courses – Monaco, Adelaide and the Hungaroring each produced 4 points finishes for him.