Martin Brundle reflects on F1 exit – Sky Sports favourite was blind-sided by axe decision

Before he became a beloved TV pundit, Martin Brundle enjoyed more than a decade racing in F1.

Martin Brundle started 158 F1 Grands Prix in the 1980s and ’90s (Image: Getty)

Martin Brundle has reflected on the abrupt end to his Formula 1 career – and how he was sneakily replaced by Eddie Jordan. Brundle is best known to fans these days as a popular broadcaster working for Sky Sports, often as a co-commentator to David Croft but also as the presenter of the popular Grid Walk segment before the start of a Grand Prix.

This 2026 season is actually Brundle’s 30th in broadcasting, having worked for the likes of ITV and the BBC in the past before joining when Sky won the rights to show the sport in the UK for the 2012 season. His switch came about for the 1997 season in which, he has revealed, he had initially expected to still be racing.

Asked by Sky Sports colleague Natalie Pinkham if he knew at the time that the 1996 season was going to be his last, Brundle said: “No. Long story, actually – I thought I was driving for Eddie [Jordan] in ’97. When I see drivers getting farewell tours and all sorts, I’m slightly envious.

“This is how I found out: I was at what I call the racing car show in Birmingham and I was like, ‘How long have I? I don’t know, another hour? Do you need me to do something?’ [And they were] like, ‘No, it might be better if you’re not here’. Because Eddie announced Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella as his two drivers. And that’s how I found out I was no longer a Formula 1 driver, that day. It all got a little bit murky.”

Martin Brundle has been a popular broadcaster for 30 years since his F1 career ended (Image: Getty)

While he was frustrated at the time, Brundle has conceded that he understood why Jordan had made the decision to bring in fresh blood. He added: “But honestly, if I was Eddie, I would have done the same thing, because I was at the end of my shelf life and he got two young chargers in there. But it was still a pretty harsh way to find out. And then I got forced, against all my instincts and my will, into the commentary box with Murray Walker. And this is now my 30th year of doing that.”

The transition from racing into broadcasting was one that Brundle found tough – especially when the first race of the 1997 season rolled around and he “I found it very difficult, because you’ve got so much adrenaline, so much work rate and competitive energy. So I took on five jobs, actually, one of which was commentating.

“Bearing in mind in ’96, the year before, the very first ever Melbourne race, I rolled the Jordan into a ball and broke it like an egg on the first lap, if you remember my crash. So the cars are coming to the grid and I start to panic. I’m like, ‘Stop, you can’t go yet, I’m not there, you can’t start a Grand Prix. Because I’d been hanging around since ’84 as a driver. I found it quite difficult.”

Now aged 66, there has been some speculation in recent times that Brundle might be reducing or stepping back from his Sky duties which require extensive global travel. However, he responded last week to such rumours on social media by writing: “Utter clickbait nonsense. I’ve done 16 races per year for a good while now and continue to do so.”