Martin Brundle ‘took a bit of stick’ after major Sky F1 decision
Martin Brundle has worked for ITV, the BBC and Sky over the course of a glittering F1 broadcast career
Martin Brundle says he “took a bit of stick” for his decision to leave the BBC for Sky F1 ahead of the 2012 season.
It comes after Sky F1 announced this week that it will retain the Formula 1 broadcast rights in the United Kingdom and Ireland until at least 2034 after agreeing a multi-year contract extension.
Martin Brundle welcomes Sky F1 contract extension
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Sky became the home of live F1 in the UK and Ireland in 2012 after winning the rights from the BBC.
The broadcaster marked its first season by launching the Sky F1 platform, the first channel dedicated to a single sport in Sky Sports history.
Sky has since adopted the model for a number of other sports, launching dedicated channels for Premier League football, cricket, tennis and golf.
Sky F1’s latest extension means it will have held the live F1 broadcast rights for 22 years by 2034.
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Brundle was among a number of high-profile BBC F1 staff – along with lead commentator David Croft, pundit Anthony Davidson, pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz and paddock reporter Natalie Pinkham – to leave for Sky ahead of 2012.
Reacting to the news of Sky’s new deal, Brundle acknowledged that he was widely criticised for opting to walk away from the BBC, revealing that Sky’s plans for a dedicated F1 channel made the offer too good to turn down.
Brundle told Sky Sports News of Sky’s new deal: “It is a big responsibility.
“It’s a huge sport. It’s the third-biggest sport in the world after the Olympics and the World Cup but we happen 24 times a year, not every four years, so there’s a lot going on. It’s an incredible calendar.
“We have the most amazing team of creative people and every time the green light is on at the end of the pit lane, we’re live – always – and hundreds of hours in between with features and with stories and catch ups and podcasts and everything on the digital side of it.
“So we don’t miss anything in Formula 1 and I think that is a big responsibility.
“Sky has been very good to Formula 1 and Formula 1 has been very good to Sky.
“I joined in 2012 and took a bit of stick at the time for daring to leave the BBC, but I saw a commitment from Sky to Formula 1 for the future.
“My goodness, [the new] deal means there’ll be at least 22 years of that.
“As soon as they told me they were going to do a dedicated Sky F1 channel, I thought: ‘Right, this is serious. I need to be part of this.’
“And I love being part of it and I love being surrounded by creative people and all the things we’re able to achieve.
“But the bottom line is what’s most important is the audience, the subscribers, the people who tune in.
“They’ve got to trust us, they’ve got to believe in us. We’ve got to tell them the story as we see it, as it unfolds – whether they like what we say or not!
“At the end of the day, that’s who we’re doing it for. It’s the audience.”
The F1 2026 season marks 30 years since Brundle’s last season on the Formula 1 grid with the Jordan team, with the nine-time podium finisher joining ITV’s F1 coverage the following year.
Brundle jumped ship when the BBC took over the rights at the start of 2009 before his switch to Sky F1.
He was recognised for his contribution to Formula 1 last year when he received an OBE – the fourth most prestigious award available to a man under the British Honours’ system – for services to motor racing and sports broadcasting.
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