Brundle reveals secrets to F1 grid walk and ‘car crash television’

Martin Brundle has revealed that three producers communicate with him in his ear during his famous F1 grid walks.
Sky Sports broadcaster Brundle, a former F1 driver himself, is known for his amusing and sometimes awkward encounters with drivers and celebrities on the grid before races.
The 65-year-old has now divulged some of the secrets of his grid walk, including how producers communicate and inform him where to be for certain conversations.
“So, I have three people in my ear – can’t always hear them,” Brundle said, on a Sky Sports Reddit Q&A.
“Somebody once switched my radio off, that’s on my belt behind me because they thought it was funny on the grid in Monaco, and I heard absolutely nobody.
“So I try to just see people out of the corner of my eye and trip over – it’s car crash television on the grid. I don’t know what’s going to happen next and I think the feedback I get is people quite like the chaos of that.
“Fundamentally, yeah, three people are talking to me about timings and who’s where and what might well happen next, but, I try to wing it as much as I can!”
Brundle also revealed his favourite grid walk moments, including conversations with Ozzy Osbourne, Kimi Raikkonen and Mika Hakkinen.
“Well, Ozzy Osborne was hilarious back in the day in Canada,” he said. “Kimi Raikkonen was quite rude – not to me, but in the word that he chose on the grid in Brazil once, but very funny.
“Obviously I’ve been knocked about by a few security guards and things like that, but generally, I just love talking to people on the grid. It’s a unique experience and opportunity, and the atmosphere, the energy that’s going on down there and then to share that with the drivers, the teams, and all sorts of people.
“So, mostly I love talking to the drivers on the grid. Probably the best moment was talking to Mika Häkkinen, literally as he’s putting his balaclava on, he’s on the front of the grid, Suzuka, and I’m saying to him, ‘can you win the world championship Mika?’ And he goes, ‘yes, I can’. Down it goes, gets in the car, becomes world champion 90 minutes later.
“And I just love that access when everybody’s full of adrenaline.”
More recently, Brundle told Kylian Mbappe’s bodyguard in Monaco, “I’m in charge here”, when trying to conduct an interview with the France and Real Madrid star in May.
In Brazil last November, Brundle bumped into American rapper Machine Gun Kelly and an odd interview occurred, in which the American rapper fiddled with Brundle’s poppy, asked him to play the air guitar and put his thumb down to the camera at the end.
Brundle also briefly encountered Shaquille O’Neal in Las Vegas, with the NBA legend simply saying “Lewis Hamilton baby”.
Brundle also endured hilarious encounters with DJ Khaled and Pharrell Williams in Miami in 2022, as well as a slightly frosty exchange with Cara Delevingne at Silverstone last year, in which the model refused to talk to the broadcaster.
Brundle is set to be on the grid again this weekend when F1 returns with the United States Grand Prix in Austin (18-20 October).
Article originally published 14 October 2024