"You have no idea how much I dislike doing them" - Martin Brundle opens up after the 2022 Miami GP about not watching any of his F1 gridwalks
F1 TV pundit Martin Brundle's gridwalk in Miami gained a lot of notoriety. For the inaugural race, the grid was filled with celebrities galore and Martin had the unenviable task of trying to decide who would be the one he chose for a soundbite. As it turns out, it was a complete mess!
Talking about the disaster of a gridwalk, one that was not one of his best moments on the grid, Brundle reflected on the moment and revealed that he was himself not a fan of doing it even though he has been doing this for the last 25 years. In what was a slightly disappointed tone, the Briton tweeted how these moments have ended up defining his career even if he never envisioned something like that ever happening.
There’s a reason why I’ve never watched back an F1 gridwalk in a quarter of a century of doing them. You have no idea how much I dislike doing them but somehow those crazy moments have defined my professional career 🤔. Oh well, that’s the way it is.
“There’s a reason why I’ve never watched back an F1 gridwalk in a quarter of a century of doing them. You have no idea how much I dislike doing them but somehow those crazy moments have defined my professional career. Oh well, that’s the way it is.”
Some of the highlights included mistaking basketball player Paolo Banchero for Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a 26-second monolog from DJ Khaled on the wonders of Miami, and being completely blanked by David Beckham.
The F1 pundit's gridwalk drew a lot of attention!
Martin Brundle's gridwalk drew a lot of attention as some of the noted journalists even pointed it out on Twitter, calling it a "mess".
The F1 pre-show on ABC/ESPN is a mess. Reporter chasing down celebrities who don’t want to talk.
“The F1 pre-show on ABC/ESPN is a mess. Reporter chasing down celebrities who don’t want to talk.”
There were some noted figures, however, that came to Brundle's defense. Most notable of them all was Max Kennerly, who said that this was an opportunity missed by the celebrities who could have been briefed about who Brundle was by their PR teams as this was free marketing for them.
@Anthony I'm always surprised these celebrities—who have PR teams, agents, etc—are never briefed on "this is what Martin Brundle looks like, if you take 20 seconds to chat with him it's free marketing to a huge worldwide audience that will be delighted and will think you're a real fan."
“I’m always surprised these celebrities—who have PR teams, agents, etc—are never briefed on ‘this is what Martin Brundle looks like, if you take 20 seconds to chat with him it’s free marketing to a huge worldwide audience that will be delighted and will think you’re a real fan.’”
It's fair to say that Martin Brundle would be more than happy to see the F1 circus bring him back to Europe for the next race.