Martin Brundle may be best known to Formula 1 fans as the primary voice of the sport thanks to an award-winning broadcasting career dating back to 1997, but his career goes far beyond commentating. An accomplished Formula 1 driver, World Sports Car Champion and senior figure in British motorsport, Martin... Read more
Martin Brundle may be best known to Formula 1 fans as the primary voice of the sport thanks to an award-winning broadcasting career dating back to 1997, but his career goes far beyond commentating. An accomplished Formula 1 driver, World Sports Car Champion and senior figure in British motorsport, Martin was Chairman of the Board of the British Racing Drivers’ Club and Chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. Aside from the breadth of his experiences Martin is one of Formula 1’s best story tellers.
Having raced a home-built grass track car at the age of 12, Martin completed his education and took over running the family’s motor franchise business when aged 19. Racing was part of his life and he established a successful career competing in touring cars, included partnering the legendary Sir Stirling Moss in the BP Audi team.
A move into single-seater racing beckoned and, in 1983, he joined Eddie Jordan Racing to compete in the British Formula 3 Championship. This witnessed a titanic duel between Martin and Brazilian Ayrton Senna, ensuring both men graduated to Formula 1 in 1984.
Martin drove for the Tyrrell Racing Organisation for three seasons, scoring a 2nd place in the US Grand Prix in Detroit in 1984, although the same year saw him sustain injuries in a high speed crash at another event in the USA, this time in Dallas. A break from Formula 1 witnessed Martin build on an existing relationship with Jaguar, competing in the 1988 World Sportscar Championship and American IMSA series. That season saw him win the Daytona 24 Hours in IMSA and five world championship races including the 1000kms of Fuji. As a result he claimed a famous World Sportscar Championship title for Jaguar ahead of arch rivals Mercedes.
Returning to Formula 1 Martin drove for the Brabham team in 1989 and 1991, while in 1990 he won the world famous Le Mans 24 Hours sports car race, once again with Jaguar. In 1992 he partnered Michael Schumacher at the Benetton-Ford team, Martin scoring four podium finishes en route to 6th overall in the World Championship for Drivers. Martin continued to produce podium finishes driving for Ligier and McLaren between 1993 and 1995, his final year in F1 coming with a season driving for Jordan Grand Prix in 1996.
In 1997 Martin joined the legendary British broadcaster Murray Walker in the commentary box for ITV Sport and, after 12 seasons, moved seamlessly across to the BBC where he remained until joining Sky Sports F1 in 2012. In this role he broadcasts to English- speaking audiences worldwide and his grid walk interviews are one of the most popular segments of each race broadcast. He is also a star speaker on the Formula 1 circuit. Martin has won six Royal Television Society awards and four BAFTA awards for Best Sporting Programme. As a driver he has won the BRDC’s* Gold Star, Silver Star and Gold Medal, the Segrave Trophy and Guild of Motoring Writers Driver of the Year award.