Q&A: Martin Brundle - EXCLUSIVE.

by Rob Wilkins

ITV F1's Martin Brundle was at the launch of the new 'Formula One Championship Edition' game for the Sony Playstation 3 on Thursday in London. Here he speaks exclusively to Crash.net Radio about that game and also gives us his thoughts on the season ahead...

Q:
Martin, what do you think of the new PS3 Formula One game then?

Martin Brundle:
I have to say the graphics are absolutely amazing - it looks like the real thing. It is like video footage rather than a Playstation game. They keep coming on in leaps and bounds. The way they crash into each other and the way they handle the bends - it is incredible.

Q:
Computer games have come on a bit since 'Space Invaders' haven't they?

MB:
Yeah they have, but even the first one of these I did, where we put the commentary on, that was 1997 and that now seems like it was steam driven, even though that was only 10 years ago.

Q:
The new F1 season gets underway now in a couple of weeks time. What are your thoughts on it?

MB:
It is looking like a close season. It does appear, on long runs though that Ferrari in particular and McLaren in general, have a very strong car, much stronger than the rest. BMW Sauber is looking good by the sounds of it too. But it is really difficult to read as ever, because you only get a snap shot at the end of the day of a load of best lap times and they have got all day to put those times in.

Q:
That's the thing with testing isn't it you get an impression of how things are, but not much more...

MB:
Yeah, but the feedback we get from the longer runs is that Ferrari are looking extremely strong.

Q:
Felipe Mass has of course been very quick this week and has topped the times on all three days. That sends out quite a warning doesn't it?

MB:
Yeah, and he appears to have the legs on Kimi Raikkonen as well, as the Finn settles in. I asked Bernie Ecclestone recently who he thought was the favourite for the year and he said 'Massa would be one of them'. I thought he was kind of tongue-in-cheek, but he wasn't at all. The trouble is, a couple of years ago Felipe was hopeless in many respects - overdriving his car, having accidents and even early in 2006, he was making a lot of mistakes. But he has just found a way and looks so comfortable now.

Q:
Who is one of your favourites then?

MB:
You can never discount Fernando Alonso. I think he is the most complete driver out there now. Raikkonen and Massa are looking very strong too. It is going to be most interesting finding out how the young guys go this year too - the 'new kids on the blocks'.

Q:
Lewis Hamilton is one of those new kids. How did you think he will get on?

MB:
He will be fast and he will shine, but he will make mistakes. He is bound too, as different weather conditions or other things catch him out. But generally speaking, with the car he has got underneath him, I think he will be a contender right from the beginning.

Q:
Honda hasn't gone very well in testing. Have they gone backwards?

MB:
You don't know who is sand-bagging. But the word on the street is that Honda and particularly Toyota, are struggling.

Q:
There is no tyre war this year. How much of a difference is that going to make?

MB:
It should level the playing field, theoretically speaking, but I am not sure it will. If certain teams have really hooked those tyres up they could just disappear. We have lost a level of interest. Take the Chinese GP last year, where at one point the Michelin tyres were the ones to be on and then all of a sudden they fell away and then Bridgestone, Michael Schumacher, started coming back at them and then it started to rain again and it was back to Michelin. It was fascinating, like the Hungarian GP too, it has taken away that element.

Q:
There's no Michael Schumacher this year. That should shake things up a bit shouldn't it?

MB:
Yeah it will, but you have to say, Alonso is the reigning world champion, a double world champion and he was pretty much the man to beat anyway. Listen, Formula One is all about tomorrow - it is not about yesterday. We are just looking now to see who can take the fight to Alonso.