Martin Brundle says leading BBC coverage in 2011 made him a better commentator
Martin Brundle believes he will be a better commentator for Sky in 2012 thanks to the experience he gained from leading the BBC's television commentary during Formula 1 races last season
Brundle became lead commentator for the BBC in 2011, standing alongside his former rival David Coulthard in the box, after Jonathan Legard was dropped from the line-up the previous winter.
Brundle has switched to Sky Sports this year and will now revert to his preferred 'expert' co-commentary role for qualifying and races on the satellite service, alongside former BBC 5 Live radio presenter David Croft.
"One thing is absolutely for sure, having now done a year of lead commentating," Brundle said when asked by AUTOSPORT at a media briefing for Sky's new F1 HD channel, "I will now be a better co-comm.
"I have now realised some of the challenges there are being a lead which I hadn't experienced before. I'd kind of sensed it, but hadn't it experienced it, so when Murray [Walker] used to look at me as if to say 'Shut up!' I now know why."
Brundle added that he is much more comfortable in the co-commentator's role, a job he took up for ITV in 1997 after quitting driving in F1, and then continued when BBC took over the coverage for 2009.
"I much prefer being the co-comm," he said. "I realised halfway through last year when I was lead comm - which I enjoyed doing, and I think it worked well with DC. I got a lot of nice comments; I mean there were a lot of people who said we couldn't carry the comm box as well, but we had a four hour and four minute race [in Canada] where we carried it just fine. But I prefer to be the co-comm.
"And then when I did the rehearsal the other day [for Sky], it just absolutely cemented that in my head. I had to force being lead commentator whereas I don't have to do that with co-comm."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments