Brundle’s passionate defence in heat row: “I’m qualified, been there, done it”
The ex-racer and Sky Sports pundit tweeted “absolutely don’t buy into the weak view we shouldn’t put them through this kind of challenge” after several drivers suffered in the heat.
George Russell and Alex Albon, speaking at this weekend’s F1 United Grand Prix, hit back at “these guys who are commenting”.
Russell let it be known that “we're driving cars 20 seconds-a-lap faster than they were”.
Lewis Hamilton, whose race ended on the first lap in Qatar, insisted that F1 must not become “too soft”.
Brundle has now said on Sky TV: “I’m with Lewis on this. I’ve been lifted out of a car a couple of times - two races I’m particularly proud of - I’ve rolled it into a ball, run back to get in the spare car.
“So I feel qualified to say because I’ve been there, done it.
“NASCAR, GT, everybody puts up with a lot of temperature.
“Qatar was right on the limit. It’ll get sorted out for next year.
“We are guardians of this great sport. We’re just passing through. All of us here! We represent the blood, sweat, tears, broken bones, lost lives of the previous 73 years.
“Hundreds of millions of people tune in. Hundreds of thousands spend hard-earned money to turn up to see something incredible, something you couldn’t or wouldn’t want to do yourself.
“After the race the drivers looked like total heroes. I could see they were struggling.
“We edit out most of the danger. Many would say that’s a good thing. We can’t edit out the challenges. We have to keep them.”
Logan Sargeant retired early in Qatar, unwell. Esteban Ocon said he vomited in his helmet, and Lance Stroll claimed he was close to passing out.
Brundle said: “You’re not going to pass out in the car. You’re going to pull into the pits, as Logan Sargeant did.
“I’ve said my piece on that. Interesting what others think. I do feel quite strongly about that.”
Brundle said that the conditions will improve next year in Qatar: “The teams will put more air through the car, the drivers will prepare differently.
“I accept that was on the limit. What was the solution? Cancel the race? Shorten it by 20 laps? There was no solution.”
Jenson Button added: “I know how it feels, I’ve lost my water bottle before. You get massively dehydrated, your vision goes, you start shivering.
“But it’s a sport that is physical. It’s nice to see that the limitations are the fitness of the drivers. It’s a sport, it’s supposed to be physical.
“I agree that if a marathon runner starts to get tired, he slows down. Same as a racing car driver.
“When my visibility started going, I slowed down in Sepang.
“Individuals saying ‘it is too hard’ will never change anything.
“Qatar was a tricky one. Unbelievably hot, humid, the highest G track in terms of loads of high speed corners, and the other thing was their tyres. They were only allowed to do 18 laps per set of tyres which meant they were pushing every lap.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
