Latest news with #MartinBrundle
News.com.au
14 hours ago
- Automotive
- News.com.au
F1 great Martin Brundle's belated praise for Oscar Piastri GP win
F1 commentator Martin Brundle has belatedly praised Oscar Piastri for his latest Grand Prix victory and made a call on the 2025 world title battle. Starting from second on the grid, Piastri won the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris, with the Aussie extending his championship lead to 16 points. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Many fans were left fuming, however, as the Sky Sports broadcast once again focused predominantly on Englishman Norris, rather than his race-winning stable mate. With Norris making a series of crucial errors in the closing stages as he attempted to catch Piastri, Brundle instead highlighted his compatriot's 'brilliant charge' on the broadcast. Perhaps the criticism that rained down upon him was fresh on 66-year-old Brundle's mind when he penned a post-Spa opinion piece for the Sky Sports website. Brundle, who picked up nine podiums in his 12-year career in the premier category, ultimately had some lofty comparisons when assessing Piastri's drive in Belgium. 'It was a champion's drive from Oscar Piastri in the main race on Sunday at Spa,' he wrote. 'The kind of performance reminiscent of the likes of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen in this modern era. 'A small error at Stavelot cost him pole position to teammate Lando Norris, who had impressively homed in on peak performance overnight. 'But then Piastri read and stalked his championship rival from the eventual rolling start, exited turn one La Source more cleanly, followed closely through Eau Rouge and Radillion, and kept momentum to sweep past into a lead he would not relinquish. 'This also gave him the all-important pit stop priority between the two.' Horrendous conditions delayed the start of the race on Sunday, with it finally getting underway behind a safety car. While Piastri jumped his teammate and grabbed the lead in the early stages, Norris was on the better compound tyre for a one-stop strategy. It left the Aussie with a huge fight on his hands to retain the lead, particularly in the closing stages. Brundle had high praise for the Victorian's effort, stating he 'made it look easy'. 'Because we waited so unnecessarily long to get underway, the race was much drier than expected, and this meant managing intermediate tyres through their compound destruction phase into a tread-less bald contact patch,' Brundle continued. 'The other McLaren side of the garage cleverly agreed with Norris to opt for the hard dry compound tyre, after Piastri's medium compounds were already fitted the previous lap, which meant Lando wouldn't have to pit again. 'Piastri then had to completely reset and coax his tyres for the remaining 70 per cent of the race, which he did with utter calmness and without error despite Norris coming back at him with increasing chunks each lap. 'Basically, he needed to deploy all the driving tools in the toolbox on the day and made it look easy. 'Lando was unlucky with having to go an extra lap on the intermediates because they were too close to do a double stack pit stop and then to compound that his stop was slow. 'As he said in the cooldown room post-race, 'I just thought bye-bye Oscar'.' Norris threw away any chance at victory due to those three costly mistakes as Piastri oozed class and kept his cool. As Norris began to close the gap to Piastri, he ran wide at turn 10 and lost more than a second before losing another half a second thanks to a big lockup. With only three laps to go and the margin down to three seconds, Norris once again locked up at turn one and saw the margin blow back out to 4.7 seconds. Those miscalculations ultimately allowed the Aussie to hold off his teammate and secure his sixth win of the season. But fans were left furious at the commentary, which seemed to downplay the Aussie's masterclass and instead hinted Norris was somewhat unlucky not to win. Piastri's win was put down to 'superior race management', while Norris' fate was sealed by 'unfortunate miscalculations'. Fans vented their feelings towards the commentary online. 'Insufferable dribble coming from Crofty. Piastri, no mistakes on higher degrading tyres with something left in the tank at the end not mentioned at all. Let's talk about his race management skills, which are superior to Lando's. The bias of Crofty is oozing out of him,' one fan wrote. 'As an Aussie, the absolutely anti-Piastri commentary from Sky Sports has been disgraceful. Brundle and Crofty normally love listening to both of you every race, but today's obsession with Lando was incredibly biased, English or not,' another said. 'Tell Crofty his sh** British Lando bias is getting out of hand! Lando is making mistakes left, right and centre and Croft still has him winning! Even after Oscar crossed the line and won, Croft was STILL crapping on about Norris. It's time for him to go,' a third added. Brundle noted those errors again when stating his belief – and hopes – for the remainder of the season. 'Once again in certain phases we saw the McLarens a second or two clear of the field every lap,' he wrote. 'Lando threw caution to the wind, he had nothing to lose, and he had to somehow disturb Oscar's tyre economy run, but three errors we saw on TV meant he came up short and had to settle for second and a further loss of eight points. 'I've felt the same way all year, when all the stars align I believe Lando is marginally the faster, but Oscar is more consistent, makes fewer errors, and is more clinical in combat. 'And his head is always rock solid. He'll take some beating in the closing stages now. 'Lando will need absolutely all he's got, all the time, to win this. 'We've very often seen two championship combatants find an overdrive and move to a scarcely believable level of delivery, it will be interesting to see if that happens over the next three Sprints and 10 GPs.' The Formula 1 season moves to the Hungaroring circuit this weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix and the only place to see every F1 race live is on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Martin Brundle Offers Real Reason Behind Horner's Red Bull Axe
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. During the Belgian Grand Prix, Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle gave his final verdict on the departure of Christian Horner from Red Bull. Horner was axed after serving in the team principal role for several years. He served for more than 20 years as the leading figure at Red Bull, but ultimately reached the end of his tenure with the team. Red Bull decided to do so after struggling over the last year and a half, both on and off the track. Power struggles plagued the team over the past year and eventually brought them undone. Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing speaks with Team Principal Christian Horner and Sky Sports presenter Martin Brundle inside the Red Bull hospitality suite during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand... Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing speaks with Team Principal Christian Horner and Sky Sports presenter Martin Brundle inside the Red Bull hospitality suite during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on March 15, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. More Photo byIt has been days since the move occurred, but the exact reason for the decision remains unclear. In an attempt to summarize the situation, Brundle offered his take on what had happened, which led to such a successful team removing their leader. He suggested the split came down to a power struggle over Red Bull's commercial control: "It was about the management in Austria wanting to take back the commercial side of it," Brundle said on the Sky broadcast. "Christian didn't want to let that go because he felt in the round that drivers, cost cap, sponsors, the employment of people was all one big story that he wanted to keep hold of. So they have made that decision. "Presumably, Max could have, if he had wanted to, stop it from happening. He either chose not to or couldn't. I'm going to assume he chose not to stop Christian being let go. But they are where they find themselves today. "They have an expression 'it's all about the can' and they felt that they want to do something with Red Bull going forward. Maybe it was a bit too much about Christian and not enough about Red Bull, I'll wait to see what they say about that." Horner oversaw a run of championships with Red Bull, giving Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen title-winning cars and well-oiled support. Verstappen is the reigning four-time champion, and although he will relinquish that mantle this season, Horner built the team around the Dutch driver. He was given complete support from Horner's team. However, their relationship had grown sour over the last few years, as Verstappen felt his thoughts on the car were disregarded and Horner became embroiled in a massive scandal. The British team principal leaves a legacy of success and controversy, but the results bear out that he is one of the best Formula 1 leaders in history. More news: Emotional Kimi Antonelli Opens Up About Confidence Struggles At Belgian GP Lewis Hamilton Issues Apology After Rough Belgium GP Weekend Max Verstappen Issues RB21 Verdict After Red Bull Upgrades at Belgium GP For more F1 news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
France 24
4 days ago
- Automotive
- France 24
Hamilton suffers unprecedented spinning knockout in Belgian GP sprint qualifying
But the gloomy seven-time world champion was cleared of blame by veteran commentator and former F1 driver Martin Brundle, who said the rear axle of Hamilton's Ferrari "broke up under braking". Brundle said it was "highly unusual", adding: "I don't think there's anyone more surprised at that than Lewis Hamilton. "It looks like a technical issue. Nobody will be more surprised than Lewis. It's almost like the engine sort of stalled out and every time he pulled another shift, it's just locked the rear axle." Hamilton ended up qualifying 18th on the 20-car grid just 24 hours after his highly-charged comments about winning a championship at Ferrari and not suffering the plight of fellow former multiple champions Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. He struggled throughout the day at the sprawling and majestic Spa-Francorchamps circuit -- one of his favourites -- and ran wide at Stavelot early in SQ1 before his spin at the chicane. Hamilton said he had never experienced that kind of spin before. Facing reporters later, he was asked what had gone wrong and responded: "I spun." He added that it was "the first time, I think, in my career" that he had spun in that way. "There's not really a lot to say," he added. "Obviously, I'm massively frustrated. "A lot of work has gone in and to be there is not really great. So hopefully tomorrow will be better." © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Martin Brundle ‘quite sad' about Red Bull sacking ‘friend' Christian Horner
Martin Brundle admits he is 'quite sad' after Christian Horner was sacked by Red Bull on Wednesday morning. The Red Bull F1 boss was relieved of his duties in a shock announcement, ending his 20-year tenure in charge of the team, and a year on from being embroiled in a scandal involving a female colleague. Advertisement Former F1 racer and Sky Sports pundit Brundle gave his immediate reaction to his 'friend' Horner being removed from his post. 'It is not completely out of the blue, given the problems in the team. I'm quite sad about it. I consider Christian a friend and he's done an incredible job for 20 years,' Brundle told Sky Sports News. 'He's won an awful lot of races and World Championships for driver and the team. He took it from what was the Stewart team and Jaguar, into a massive campus in Milton Keynes and an awful lot of success and a huge trophy cabinet. 'It's not too difficult to feel in the F1 paddock and to observe and hear that things were not particularly rosy.' Advertisement Brundle also revealed that Horner has not been given a clear reason as to why he has been sacked by Red Bull's parent company. 'I believe it's probably performance-related as well,' Brundle said, when asked about the reasoning behind the decision. 'I think it perhaps makes it more likely that the Verstappens (Max and Jos) will stay there, that became quite personal. 'There are a number of aspects. The car is struggling, but they've won races brilliantly this year. 'I'm due to speak to Christan later in the day, I said 'can I have a chat?' And he wasn't able to do that. No reason was given to him as to why he's been released. That's the only hard info on that. Martin Brundle admitted he was 'quite sad' about Christian Horner's sacking (Sutton Images) Horner and his wife Geri at last year's Bahrain Grand Prix (David Davies/PA). (PA Archive) 'Nothing's forever, things move on.' Advertisement However, Brundle does believe that the sacking makes Max Verstappen more likely to stay at Red Bull for next season. The four-time world champion has been heavily linked with a move to Mercedes in recent weeks, with Verstappen's father, Jos, known to want Horner to leave his job for at least a year. 'It remains to be seen, every point Max has through his own genius driving is in a Red Bull car,' Brundle said. 'They're debuting their own engine for the first time next year, which is going to be the biggest change in Formula 1 history. We know that Max has an exit clause based on where he is in the world championship at the end of this month. 'I can only surmise it means it's more likely he stays at this moment.'
Daily Telegraph
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Telegraph
F1 world turns on Piastri as ‘angry side' exposed for first time
Don't miss out on the headlines from F1. Followed categories will be added to My News. Formula 1 icon Martin Brundle says fans are seeing the 'angry side' of Aussie Oscar Piastri for the first time. There are some motorsport figures and countless social media users who can't handle it. The McLaren driver has come under fire for his behaviour following the British Grand Prix where a 10-second penalty cost him a race win. As McLaren teammate Lando Norris charged to win his home race at Silverstone, Piastri made a desperate request for his team to order Norris to switch positions. His request was centred around messages from his team that they also believed FIA stewards were wrong to penalise the Melburnian for an unsafe re-start when a safety car pulled into the pits on Lap 22. The 24-year-old's sudden braking forced Max Verstappen to take evasive action. Piastri was visibly frustrated with how the race had unfolded and let his emotions show in his first interviews in parc ferme. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. He said he did not want to say much about the penalty because he was going to 'get himself in trouble'. It was on team radio when first informed his request had been denied that he was at his most aggrieved, saying: 'I think I'll get myself banned for the year if I say anything here'. Brundle has now written in his column Piastri's bold request was 'more than cheeky'. 'It seems the Drivers' Championship showdown will indeed be between Piastri and Norris, and we can expect some fireworks there. Watch the moment Oscar Piastri was penalised for in the video above Oscar Piastri congratulates Lando Norris on the win. (Photo by) 'That's the first time we've seen the angry side of the calm silent Aussie assassin. 'Oscar's radio call for the places to be swapped if the team thought he'd received an unfair penalty was more than cheeky, though.' F1 analyst Peter Windsor also said Piastri's team order request was something he hadn't seen before. 'Oscar got on the radio and quite surprisingly and I think quite intelligently said that whole thing with the safety car was ridiculous, we should be basically appealing that, we should reverse positions now on that basis and then race to the finish,' he said on YouTube. 'Which I can't remember any driver ever saying that and you've got to give him full marks for thinking laterally there and he was the quicker driver over the weekend for McLaren and there he is being super aggressive on the radio about something like that and of course had they not decided to serve that 10-second penalty in Oscar's pit stop and waited till the end of the race.' Oscar Piastri during the British Grand Prix press conference. Photo: X and @F1. F1 journalist James Elson also understood Piastri's anger because the former Alpine driver had been the superior driver in the McLaren garage all weekend. 'Aside from that misdemeanour, Piastri bossed most of the race,' Elson wrote in 'Once dispensing with Max Verstappen early on, the Australian kept Norris at arm's length throughout – the Brit was never in the same league as his McLaren colleague.' He went on to write: 'Piastri was full of rage after being demoted to second in a British GP he felt should have rightfully been his. 'When it was put to him by Sky that he had driven brilliantly, he simply replied: 'Yep, I know,' through a strained smile. 'If he's that good when he's chilled out, what'll be like when he's angry? We can't wait to see.' One video of Piastri's first reaction posted on X by a Piastri fan account has more than 70,000 views with the account posting: 'OMG I don't think I have ever seen him this angry'. Those interactions have allowed some sections of the Formula 1 word to paint a picture of Piastri being a sore loser. There have also been wild suggestions Piastri was out of line when jokingly asking Nico Hulkenberg what he thought about the first podium trophy of his career being made out of Lego because of a commercial relationship between the British Grand Prix and building block goliath. Social media users, many of them Norris supporters, have shared harsh messages on X, accusing Piastri of poor sportsmanship by failing to celebrate his teammate's win. Piastri, did however, congratulate his teammate on the win and said after the race it would not have been 'fair' for the team to ask Norris to let him pass. The way it played out has put a fire in his belly. 'I thought I would ask the question,' Piastri said. 'I knew what the answer was going to be before I asked, but I just wanted a small glimmer of hope that maybe I could get it back. But no, I knew it wasn't going to happen. 'I don't think there was anything wrong with it. Lando didn't do anything wrong. 'I don't think it would have been particularly fair to have swapped, but I thought I would at least ask. 'It doesn't change much for the championship. I feel like I did a good job today. I feel I did what I needed to. That's all I need. I will use the frustration to make sure I win some more races later.' Norris now has eight career wins, one more than Piastri, and with the McLaren drivers separated by just eight points in the standings, the championship is set to go down to the wire over the second half of the season. Originally published as F1 world turns on Piastri as 'angry side' exposed for first time
