Michael Schumacher loved a party, and that was good news for Martin Brundle.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion was famous for big blowouts, showcased by a Netflix documentary titled with his name that included clips of a pool party with rival David Coulthard.
At the track, the German was as serious as it gets, meaning that when criticism from a former teammate hit the headlines, it wasn’t to be taken lightly.
On one occasion it was gridwalk legend Martin Brundle who felt his wrath, having partnered Schumacher at Benetton Ford in 1992.
Recalling what it was like to go from a colleague of one of sport’s all-time greats to someone who commented on him in the media, Brundle recalled one story that went awry.
He explained on the Sky Sports F1 podcast: “Well, weirdly, we fell out, because something I said was translated, taken out of context, and translated into German and put in a headline in a newspaper. And Michael got very upset.
“I have no idea what it was to this day. And he wouldn’t speak to me for five years. It was really odd.
“So I really don’t know what the problem was, but that was a real shame.”
Thankfully for Brundle, his relationship with Schumacher was repaired during a party in Spain.
He continued: “We got drunk together in a nightclub in Valencia when he was on his sabbatical between Mercedes and Ferrari, and we were fine after that.
“He was sort of hanging off my shoulder, he was like, ‘My teammate, my teammate’, and we sort of… It broke the ice again.”
If Schumacher is the racing GOAT, Brundle arguably has that honour as a much-loved pundit who has been trooping Formula 1 grids pre-race since his retirement in 1996.
The 65-year-old Brit’s media career has spanned many of the sport’s greats, including Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
However, he’s acknowledged that times have changed in recent years, with the grid now packed by celebrities, stopping him from finding a spot to talk to a driver.
He explained: “Drivers would stop by and have a good old chat. I remember talking once to Michael Schumacher and Gerhard Berger at the same time, and could do what I wanted and go where I wanted to. The grid was deserted, generally speaking, back then.”
Hamilton famously doesn’t conduct any pre-race interviews through superstition, but his Red Bull rival, Verstappen, is happy to talk, earning rave reviews from Brundle.
Brundle once doorstopped the Dutch world champion ahead of the 2023 British Grand Prix despite having just a minute until the start of the national anthem.
After getting a few words from Verstappen, the pundit then commented: “That was good of the pole sitter to stop and have a chat, he’s always calm.
“You know what, I know with some people he’s not always the most popular driver, but of all the drivers on the grid, he’s the one I’d want to go out and have a beer with because I find him extremely straightforward and an honest lad.”
