Martin Brundle

[The Stig]

Martin Brundle is one of the very best reasons to watch ITV F1 coverage. Articulate, amusing, forthright, not afraid to be controversial and generally spot on, he reminds me, in many ways, of the late James Hunt. I personally do not miss Murray Walker at all. MW was a television legend and rightly so, but the current ITV team really is very very watchable and "listen to able" Brundle is by some distance the best TV summariser in any sport, he has an unmatched ability to entertain and inform simultaneously. James Allen too, is underrated - together these two are a fine partnership. Biggest complaint about ITV F1 coverage is their ability to schedule 120 seconds of "retail opportunities" at completely the wrong moment, thereby recording the action you just missed

[Ann]

I am with you 100% about Martin Brundle - he was born to be a commentator, although I loved supporting him as a driver too. Shame they ditched the grid walk in Malaysia.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I don't miss Murray though - he is a unique man & correcting him was part of the fun of a Sunday afternoon's viewing!

[cos]

To be fair, the adverts hardly ever make us miss out on any action ('action' in F!? Never!)
The only goofs that spring to mind is the European GP a few years ago when both McLarens retired within a lap of each other, and Hungary 1997 when Damon Hill's Arrows overtook Schumacher.

[John]

Martin is great yeah, but personally I much preferred Murray and Martin to James Allen and Martin. Murray and Martin's partnership was good enough to get them their own show on a saturday afternoon on a GP weekend - and who could forget phrases like - "theres a Williams off..... its Villeneuve, Jaqueses Villeneuve is out of the race"
Martin: "Erm actually its Frentzen Murray" (As the caption on the screen clearly states!!) ;)

Also I reckon one of the highlights of the coverage is the grid walk, especialyy when he manages to either annoy the German coverage by pushing in, or when he has a go at Bernie etc. They should produce some grid walk highlights sometime (I know they have in the past but there'd be a lot more now!!)

I also think Tony Jardine is a really good analyst who often gets overlooked, he clearly knows his stuff and I remember when (I think it was Malaysia 99 when the Ferraris where DSQd) that he did a really good sketch of the car and the part of the car that was illegal etc. That to me showed how good he is. Many studio debate / analysis people (in other sports) are just there because they were famous in that sport and may not necessarily know what they are talking about in great depth, but he clearly does.

[Ed- the MG fan]

But has any one noticed that this year he is actually being kind to Nick Highfeld. If I remember clearly he was always slagging him off last year.

And his famous catchphrase has to "no doubt about it." Is it just me but he always says this through qualifying and the race.

But I think he his a good commentator, and that him and James Allen make a good team

[bramble]

Yep Martin is great, he and Murry were the perfect commentating team, although James isn't too bad. I agree Tony isnt used nearly as much as he should be, he should get his own segment on the show.

As for the missing the action, there is an easy solution. When watching the F1 in Saudi Arabia (with Martin and James on commentary!), as the adverts came on they kept the action going in the bottom left of the screen. Why they dont do that here I have no idea, as that would stop me leaving the room during the break and the advertisers would get more people seeing their adverts.

[Reynard]

I have an old semi-biographical book that Murray wrote back in the mid 1980s called "Bedside Wheels". I'd recommend it to anyone who can get their hands on a copy because it is just so damn funny. Seriously, you'll laugh until you wet yourself, as a lot of the text concentrates on the so-called "boo-boos"...

As for the "Great Brundolo" - he's a much under-rated driver as well. It is a shame that some of his best results in F1 were disallowed because of supposed technical irregularities that were in part a result of the FISA vs FOCA power struggle in the mid 1980s. Having said that, he's more than proved his worth in F3, Sportscars and even the BTCC. AFAIK he still stands as the youngest class winner in the series.

I certainly agree he makes a good commentator for precisely the reasons discussed here i.e. he knows his stuff and he has the ability to get the information across to the viewers.

One guy I miss from the F1 commentary team is former Autosport editor Simon Taylor - he was for many years the "voice of motorsport" on BBC radio until the post was taken by Jonathan Ledgard.

[John]

Originally posted by Reynard
One guy I miss from the F1 commentary team is former Autosport editor Simon Taylor - he was for many years the "voice of motorsport" on BBC radio until the post was taken by Jonathan Ledgard.

Never re-appeared at the start of 1998 did he? :confused: I've heard him on F3000 commentary and similar things but as the F3000 goes to the same tracks as F1 (on the whole) I dont know why he's not an F1 pundit anymore.

[John]

Originally posted by bramble
As for the missing the action, there is an easy solution. When watching the F1 in Saudi Arabia (with Martin and James on commentary!), as the adverts came on they kept the action going in the bottom left of the screen. Why they dont do that here I have no idea, as that would stop me leaving the room during the break and the advertisers would get more people seeing their adverts.

I've seen races on French TV and they just flash up a company name for a few seconds every so often - basically the screen that they always freeze on at the end of an ad. So you dont get any of the rubbish advert/story bit, just the main message (buy this product) and you dont miss much of the race. I agree that I never watch the ads in F1. If its a morning race I use them to get breakfast and get ready etc. If its an afternoon race I usually get a drink and have a wander round. Thats not just F1 its all programmes, never watch the ad breaks (got the length timed to perfection now so that I can come back into the room, or switch back to the channel at the right time!!) ;)

[Claw]

Originally posted by Ed- the MG fan
But has any one noticed that this year he is actually being kind to Nick Highfeld. If I remember clearly he was always slagging him off last year.




Maybe cos Brundles finally realised that Heidfeld is an excellent driver!

Anyway, I like Brundle, he says who's an idiot and why!

[The Stig]

That's what I mean about the late James Hunt comparison. Few years ago I purchased a BBC Grand Prix magazine, (in the days when the BBC covered the season), and attached to the front was a free audio tape of "Muddy Talker" and James Hunt speaking about each other and loads of other F1 stuff. Very, very amusing. Don't think Murray was particularly fond of James' habit of turning up to the commentary booth with 30 seconds to spare, hungover and unwashed. Sure that Martin Brundle has a shower and gets their in plenty of time. My point is, comparing the two, they are so similar in style and for me make the programme better. Love the idea of a small segment in the corner of the screen with the action still viewable in mid commercial break. Surely Bernie could sort that one !!

[Paul Rayner]

Originally posted by John
who could forget phrases like - "theres a Williams off..... its Villeneuve, Jaqueses Villeneuve is out of the race"
Martin: "Erm actually its Frentzen Murray" (As the caption on the screen clearly states!!) ;)
Actually, that was Mark Blundell, on a week when Martin was racing at Le Mans but I think that Mark made a good commentator as well. Hang on, now I think about it, I'm thinking of a Canadian grand prix when it was Villeneuve in the wall on about the second lap and Murray was shouting about Frentzen, so I could be on completely the wrong race.

I did think that Murray and Martin were a great team, and that James Allen is underrated because he had a really bad year to start commentating, one of the dullest ever. He is still relatively new to the commentary world, and needs more experience, but I think he's getting better all the time.