49 Facts About Martin Brundle

Martin John Brundle was born on 1 June 1959 and is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012.

Martin Brundle was the 1988 World Sportscar Champion with Silk Cut Jaguar, with a record points score; and won the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans for Jaguar Cars.

Martin Brundle began his racing career at the age of 12, competing in grass track racing, in the Norfolk village of Pott Row.

Martin Brundle won the Grovewood Award as the most promising Commonwealth driver.

The next year, he competed with Ayrton Senna for the Formula Three championship, which Martin Brundle lost on the final laps of the last race.

Martin Brundle put in a number of aggressive and fast drives, finishing fifth in his first race in Brazil and then second in Detroit before being disqualified.

At the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix Martin 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 Martin Brundle's left ankle initially led doctors to consider amputating his left foot.

Martin Brundle scored only eight points in his time with Tyrrell, all in the 1986 season.

Four years of Formula One racing for underfunded teams led Martin Brundle to seek a new challenge, and thus in 1988 he took a year out.

Martin 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 Martin Brundle took two victories, the second in partnership with TWR owner Tom Walkinshaw.

Martin Brundle won the Daytona 24 Hours the same year.

Martin Brundle 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.

Martin 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.

Martin Brundle took victory at the temporary circuit at Burke Lakefront Airport and finished third in the overall standings.

Martin Brundle came close to a win at Canada, where having overtaken Schumacher and closing on leader Gerhard Berger, the transmission failed.

At Spa, Martin Brundle went by when Schumacher went off the track.

Martin Brundle 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, Martin Brundle raced for Ligier in 1993.

For 1994 Martin Brundle was in the frame for the vacant McLaren seat alongside Mika Hakkinen.

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 Martin Brundle got the drive, beating out McLaren test driver Philippe Alliot.

Martin Brundle was confirmed less than two weeks before the season-opening 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Nevertheless, when the car was reliable, Martin Brundle put in strong performances that season, most notably at Monaco where he finished second to Schumacher.

Martin Brundle impressed however, with a strong fourth at Magny-Cours and what would be his last F1 podium, at Spa, being the highlights.

Martin Brundle finished fifth in the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix, which was his last Grand Prix in Formula One.

Martin Brundle achieved 9 podiums, and scored a total of 98 championship points, with a best championship finish of 6th in 1992.

Martin Brundle had hoped to stay in F1 beyond 1996, but could not find a seat.

Martin Brundle was offered a seat at Sauber in 1997 following the dropping of Nicola Larini, but decided against it.

Martin Brundle returned to Le Mans in 2012 but previous to that last raced in 2001, between which he focused on his role with the British Racing Drivers' Club.

Martin Brundle joined the BBC's commentary team alongside Jonathan Legard when they won back the rights to show F1 from 2009.

Martin Brundle signed for Sky Sports' coverage at the end of 2011.

At Sky Martin Brundle returned to a co-commentary role, working alongside lead commentator David Croft.

Martin Brundle commentated on Eurosport for a handful of qualifying sessions in 1995.

Martin Brundle took the wheel of a Jaguar F1 car for the Formula One demonstration in London prior to the 2004 British Grand Prix and drove a BMW Sauber during a demonstration in 2006.

Also in 2006, Martin Brundle drove a 2005 Red Bull Racing car around Silverstone as part of ITV's 'F1 Insight' feature.

Martin Brundle scored three top-eight finishes from the three races in which he took part.

Martin Brundle came out of retirement again to race for United Autosports in the 2011 Daytona 24 Hours, sharing a Ford-powered Riley with Zak Brown, Mark Patterson and former Ligier and Brabham teammate Blundell; the team finished fourth overall.

In June 2011, shortly before the 2011 European Grand Prix, Martin Brundle completed a one-off Formula One test for the series' tyre supplier Pirelli at Jerez.

Martin Brundle completed a total of 70 laps on all of their tyre compounds, with the results and events of the day aired before the 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix.

In June 2012, Martin Brundle made a return to competitive racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, teaming up with son Alex to race a Greaves Motorsport-run Zytek-Nissan LMP2.

Martin Brundle co-owned a management company, 2MB Sports Management, alongside Mark Blundell until January 2009, when he announced his intention to step down in order to focus on his television responsibilities and his son's career.

Martin Brundle presented a documentary on British television in 1998 called Great Escapes, which showed generally live recordings, and occasionally reconstructions, of stories where human beings managed to somehow survive in face of various dangers or perils.

In June 2013 he released his second book The Martin Brundle Scrapbook, co-authored with Philip Porter, a biography that tells the story of his life through memorabilia, news cuttings and photographs.

Martin Brundle asserted his right to voice his opinion about Formula One:.

Martin Brundle's helmet was white with two red stripes and a blue stripe between the two red stripes from the chin to the back of the helmet.

Martin Brundle is married to Liz and they have a daughter, Charlie, and a son, Alex.

Martin Brundle has always lived within a 10-mile radius of King's Lynn, and currently lives in Gayton, Norfolk.

In 2017, Martin Brundle disclosed that while covering the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix for Sky Sports, he suffered a heart attack whilst running to do the podium interviews.

In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Martin Brundle was ranked the 30th best Formula One driver of all time.