Brundle reveals ‘really odd’ five-year fall-out with Michael Schumacher
Martin Brundle interviews Michael Schumacher
Martin Brundle said Michael Schumacher went silent on him for five years after a mystery comment irked the seven-time World Champion.
Brundle spent a season as team-mate to Michael Schumacher in the early stages of what would become a record-setting F1 career for Schumacher, with the duo paired at Benetton in 1992. But it was further down the line that their relationship went cold, not that Brundle knows why.
Martin Brundle and Michael Schumacher ‘broke the ice’ in nightclub
Since retiring as an F1 driver, Brundle has become one of the most recognisable voices in the Formula 1 broadcasting world, and when appearing on the Sky F1 podcast, he would reminisce about his early experiences doing his now iconic ‘grid walk’ segment, where chatting to drivers, such as Schumacher, pre-race, was a breeze.
“Drivers would stop by and have a good old chat,” he said. “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.”
On that note, Brundle was asked what it was like making the transition from being team-mate to Schumacher to interviewing him after moving into his broadcasting career. It was not an easy one in regards to their relationship.
“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,” Brundle revealed.
“I have no idea what it was to this day. And he wouldn’t speak to me for five years. It was really odd.”
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And it was not until after Schumacher’s first F1 retirement that the former Benetton team-mates got back on good terms, though the whole experience remains baffling for Brundle.
“And then 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,” Brundle continued.
“He was sort of hanging off my shoulder, he was like, ‘My team-mate, my team-mate’, and we sort of… It broke the ice again.
“So I really don’t know what the problem was, but that was a real shame.”
Schumacher returned to Formula 1 in 2010 for what proved to be a three-season spell with Mercedes before retiring for a second and final time.
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