Martin Brundle hits back at Jeremy Clarkson’s F1 overtaking criticism

Martin Brundle has responded to Jeremy Clarkson’s criticism of F1 following a lacklustre Japanese Grand Prix.

The last race at Suzuka was a dull affair with very few on-track overtakes.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was the only driver to move up a place from their starting position in the race, getting ahead of Racing Bull's Isack Hadjar.

As a result, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has expressed concerns that F1 is turning into a “qualifying world championship”.

On Monday, the former Top Gear host took to X to put forward a solution to improve the show in F1.

Clarkson reckons that F1 shouldn’t race on circuits where overtaking is difficult.

“I’ve had an idea to make F1 racing more consistently exciting. Don’t use tracks where overtaking is difficult,” Clarkson wrote on his X account.

“Sure. The cars are bigger so accept that, ignore the “incentives”, and use tracks that are suitable. Ultimately, the revenue comes from fans. Always.

“That F1 race this morning gave me an idea of what it might be like to watch cricket.”

Brundle responds to Clarkson

Suzuka has traditionally been a difficult circuit to overtake, with just one DRS zone on the start-finish straight.

The next two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have often produced thrillers, with high degradation usually a factor.

In Brundle’s response, he called for Clarkson to be “patient” and said changing the cars is necessary, not the tracks.

“Jezza it’s a bit like a harvest, sometimes you have to be patient,” Brundle wrote on his X account.

“From four starts this season we’ve had four different winners. Some football matches are nil-nil. Some are last minute 5-4 thrillers.

“That’s sport. I know you love F1 really. Change the cars, not the tracks.”