Red Bull and Mercedes ‘crossfire’ reveal as Brundle recalls ‘most unpleasant’ experience
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battle
Martin Brundle revealed how F1 2021 was “the most unpleasant time I’ve known” as an F1 commentator due to the Red Bull and Mercedes rivalry.
The 2021 campaign went down in the Formula 1 history books as one of the greatest seasons the sport has ever witnessed, as title protagonists, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, went into the Abu Dhabi title decider level on points, a race of drama and controversy which will not soon be forgotten in the sport.
Martin Brundle: Sky F1 caught in Mercedes vs Red Bull ‘crossfire’
The rivalry that season extended far beyond Verstappen and Hamilton, running through their respective teams as tensions mounted with Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff engaging in a war of words at various points.
Brundle was in the thick of that season’s action as Sky F1’s co-commentator and pundit, as he opened up on how both Red Bull and Mercedes adopted a ‘with us or against us’ mindset, which put Sky in an awkward position.
Speaking on the Sky F1 podcast, Brundle revealed that he has “never taken a note into a commentary box” in his time with the broadcaster since they acquired the live F1 broadcasting rights for the UK and Ireland from 2012.
So, asked how he prepares for a race, Brundle said: “Sunday morning we go to some briefings, Crofty [Sky F1 lead commentator David Croft] and I, and get that sort of last-minute knowledge.
“And teams are quite open at that point. They’re not going to give you their race strategy, but they give you a lot of information.
“We just read all weekend. I go out on track on a Friday, so I get a lot of knowledge from that. I talk relentlessly to people. I’ve got my touchstones in the paddock where we trade information, three or four people.
“If something big is going up, I will go and talk to Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO], Christian, Toto, go and talk to somebody. And they won’t tell me lies. If they can’t tell me, they won’t tell me, or they’ll tell me something.
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“I would say 60 or 70 per cent of what I know I can never say on the TV, but that does give me the other 30 per cent, and then it also means that it gives me a guidance, or I can give my Sky F1 colleagues guidance on if we’re heading off in the wrong direction or something.
“It’s probably too much, 60, 70 per cent, but there’s a lot of stuff you get to know, and people tell you in great confidence. So you can’t breach that confidence, otherwise you’ll never get the other bit down the road.
“So, we are in a sanctum. We get caught in the crossfire. The most unpleasant time I’ve known in all these years of commentating was Abu Dhabi 2021, and 2021 in general, because it became so feisty, so aggressive between Mercedes and Red Bull and Sky kind of got caught up in the middle of that.
“We got caught in the crossfire, basically. And each team pretty much felt if you weren’t with them, you had to be against them. And they both felt that. And it was really uncomfortable, actually, that whole phase.
“But friendships remained, and we all moved on.”
2021 marked the first of three World Championship triumphs for Verstappen, who looks set to make it four in a row in F1 2024. With three rounds to go, he holds a 62-point lead over McLaren’s Lando Norris.
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