Martin Brundle labels Abu Dhabi 2021 “the most unpleasant time” as a commentator

Martin Brundle has labelled Abu Dhabi 2021 his “most unpleasant time” as an F1 commentator following the fallout between Mercedes and Red Bull.

The 2021 F1 season ended in controversial circumstances as Max Verstappen clinched his first world championship.

Lewis Hamilton was on course to take a record-breaking eighth title in Abu Dhabi until the closing laps when the Safety Car was deployed.

In a bid to get the race underway before the chequered flag, and thus the title settled on track, race director Michael Masi allowed a handful of cars to unlap themselves - not all - which contravened the regulations.

The ending of the season capped off a year of heated incidents between Verstappen and Hamilton, which often played out in the media.

Speaking recently on the Sky F1 podcast, Brundle conceded they were “caught in the crossfire” of the tension between Mercedes and Red Bull.

“So, we are in a sanctum. We get caught in the crossfire,” he added. “The most unpleasant time I’ve known in all these years of commentating was Abu Dhabi 2021, and 2021 in general, because it became so feisty, so aggressive between Mercedes and Red Bull and Sky kind of got caught up in the middle of that.

“We got caught in the crossfire, basically. And each team pretty much felt if you weren’t with them, you had to be against them. And they both felt that. And it was really uncomfortable, actually, that whole phase.

“But friendships remained, and we all moved on.”

Brundle also offered insight into his and David Croft’s dealings with teams over the years.

“Sunday morning we go to some briefings, Crofty, and I, and get that sort of last-minute knowledge,” he explained.

“And teams are quite open at that point. They’re not going to give you their race strategy, but they give you a lot of information.

“We just read all weekend. I go out on track on a Friday, so I get a lot of knowledge from that. I talk relentlessly to people. I’ve got my touchstones in the paddock where we trade information, three or four people.

“If something big is going up, I will go and talk to Zak, Christian, Toto, go and talk to somebody. And they won’t tell me lies. If they can’t tell me, they won’t tell me, or they’ll tell me something. I would say 60 or 70 per cent of what I know I can never say on the TV, but that does give me the other 30 per cent, and then it also means that it gives me a guidance, or I can give my Sky F1 colleagues guidance on if we’re heading off in the wrong direction or something.

“It’s probably too much, 60, 70 per cent, but there’s a lot of stuff you get to know, and people tell you in great confidence. So you can’t breach that confidence, otherwise you’ll never get the other bit down the road.”