MARTIN BRUNDLE

The Formula 1 racer turned Sky TV pundit and reluctant grid-walk maestro talks to Mark Tisshaw about his remarkable career

- Mark Tisshaw

When a second career in Formula 1 started for Martin Brundle back in 1997, the ITV co-commentary gig was very much not his first choice for that season - because he thought he still had a race seat with Jordan. "When I found out I wasn't racing, I very reluctantly went into the commentary box with Murray [Walker]," he recalls.

"I remember being in the box in Melbourne for the first race, the cars came to the grid and I felt a sense of panic because I wasn't ready to start the race: they can't start without me! I'd been hanging around F1 for 12 years at that point... But it went down quite well."

Some understatement there from the always-modest Brundle, winner of the Autocar Editor's Award for 2024. This accolade is given to an individual who has had the greatest success individually or for their company, and the world-leading standards Brundle sets in making F1 accessible to an ever-wider audience through his role as Sky's lead pundit and co-commentator is why he is this year's recipient.

Despite all his success and qualities as a broadcaster, Brundle admits that he has never watched himself back on TV - not even one of his legendary grid walks (see separate story, right).

His training was as simple as a meeting with the late Murray Walker on the Edgware Road in London ahead of the 1997 season, when Walker said to Brundle: "You're here to inform and entertain, and nothing more."

"I've followed that mantra ever since," says Brundle. "People don't care about you. I use my experiences to sometimes explain something, but they don't care about what you did. If you can, I like using a little humour because it's a wonderful communication tool. But I've always stuck with saying what you see, being truthful and honest and knowing that you might upset a few people."