Did you mean: Martín Brundle

Martin John Brundle (King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom; June 1, 1959) is a British former Formula 1 driver. After becoming world motorsports champion in 1988, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1990 for Jaguar. He is mainly known because he was one of Ayrton Senna's main rivals in British Formula 3.

His Formula 1 career began with Tyrrell in 1984, a team with which he finished second in Detroit; However, at the 1984 United States Grand Prix, he broke his ankles during practice. Tyrrell was disqualified from that year's world championships for a technical violation. Since 1997, Brundle has been a Formula 1 commentator on British television.

Difficult beginnings

In the British Formula 3 he faced an unknown man in a yellow helmet with whom he engaged in a close fight until the end. Ayrton Senna's Ralt-Toyota finally won and Martin had to settle for second place. That allowed him, in any case, to enter Formula 1 in 1984, with Tyrrell. Not an easy start: all of his results were canceled due to the disqualification of the Tyrrell team for violation of the technical regulations. His fantastic debut in Rio de Janeiro in 1984 or his second place in Detroit were of no use. Things did not improve in Dallas, where he suffered a terrible accident that broke his ankles in training. It was of no use to him to remain faithful to Tyrrell for two more years: the lack of competitiveness of the car only allowed him to reach, at most, among the top ten. At Brands Hatch in 1986, he was able to climb to fifth place. Only in the last participation for Tyrrell, at the Australian Grand Prix of that same year, in Adelaide, did he achieve fourth place. Signing for Zakspeed was not a good idea: the two points he scored in 1987 were the only ones the team achieved in its entire short history (136 races, between 1985 and 1989).

The 1988 season moved away from Formula 1 to focus on parallel championships. There he was able to call himself a champion, with his Sportscar title. That year, Frank Williams called him to replace Nigel Mansell in the Belgian Grand Prix. A decent seventh place made him return to Formula 1 competition the following year; he was still in shape.

At the debut of Albert Park as a Formula 1 World Championship track in 1996, Martin Brundle's Jordan literally flew, breaking in half moments later. It had been twelve years since he had entered Formula 1, and perhaps it was time not to tempt fate any further. That same year he retired from the Formula 1 world championship. He left behind 165 races and no victories. Are we facing a failed pilot? Perhaps a divine force is what prevents certain brave people from tasting the joys of triumph so, on the other hand, they can make us enjoy his unusually strange and romantic sports careers. This is the perfect case. The only major victory that Martin has achieved was at the controls of a Jaguar XJR-12 in 1990, in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. But he was also able to enjoy other triumphs in other categories, such as the 1988 Sportscar championship.

Winning outside of Formula 1

The end of the 80s passed unnoticed at MRD (Motor Racing Developments). He even seemed to enjoy more outside of Formula 1, such as in Le Mans (where he won in 1990), in the Sport Prototypes or the American IROC (where he achieved the first and only victory for an Englishman in this category, on the temporary layout of the airport of Lakefront).

The Kyalami track, in 1992, saw him join Benetton in Formula 1. In the end the results came: he stepped on the podium very frequently: five times this season, and other not inconsiderable results, such as three fourth places and two fifths. Victory, however, still eluded him. Martin was, in any case, able to demonstrate that he could score regularly, trying to demonstrate his solidity behind the wheel. The following year, in Canada, he could have beaten Gerhard Berger and Michael Schumacher, but his Ligier's transmission failed, depriving him of a deserved victory. He would never be so close again, despite having passed through McLaren and, again, through Jordan and Ligier.

Nine podiums and almost one hundred points is the achievement of this Englishman who never gave up. His sixth place in the 1992 championship means little, but the experiences on the track (and off it) got him hooked on this sport; So he became a television commentator, a profession in which he has continued to earn public recognition. His work in high competition also continued with advising drivers, such as David Coulthard, of whom he was a representative.

The addiction to gasoline has made him return to Le Mans repeatedly, although he was never able to repeat the success of 1990. The asphalts of various automobile competitions have seen him quench his thirst for speed, more for fun than for economic necessity.

Results

Formula 1

(Key) (bold indicates pole position) (italics indicates fast lap)