From rock stars to sporting icons to royalty to… Mr Unicorn? Yes, Mr Unicorn has joined a growing list of bizarre grid walk interviews conducted by Sky’s Martin Brundle.

Brundle’s grid walks have seen him interview some of the biggest characters on the Formula 1 grid, some wanting to be interviewed, others not so much.

Mr Unicorn meet Martin Brundle, Martin Brundle meet Mr Unicorn

The Sky F1 pundit was at it on Sunday as he walked the Shanghai grid in the build-up to the Chinese Grand Prix, speaking with team bosses, celebrities and a unicorn.

Having spotted Chinese influencer Xue Zhang, better known as Mr Unicorn, Brundle walked up to him and informed the viewers: “There’s an unusual character – Xue Zhang.”

Asking him to tell everyone a bit about himself, Mr Unicorn shouted enthusiastically: “I’m Mr Unicorn from China! I’m looking for the fastest man alive over here.”

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As Brundle tried to hold the mic as close to his snout as possible to capture his words, he unfurled a banner written in Chinese that translated to “fastest man in the world”.

And who exactly is that, according to Mr Unicorn?

“Lewis Hamilton!”

That Brundle then walked away from Mr Unicorn to speak with McLaren CEO Zak Brown about Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’ chances in the Chinese Grand Prix juxtaposed the moment, adding to the bafflement.

But as the 65-year-old put it on X, “It’s a funny old world. If we were all the same it would be boring. I think his spelling is a bit questionable there.”

Brundle has previously addressed what has become his iconic grid walk, although some clearly provide more entertainment that others.

From incidents with Megan Thee Stallion to a bizarre ‘air guitar’ moment with Machine Gun Kelly, Brundle rues the fact that he is more well known for the grid walk than he is his nine F1 Grand Prix podiums.

“I’ve been in F1 for 38 years,” he told The Telegraph in 2022. I had nine podiums as a F1 driver. I was a world sportscar champion, a Le Mans winner, a Daytona winner. I like to think I’ve called some pretty good races in my time. Worked with the great Murray Walker…

“But there’s no doubt about it. I’m most famous now for grid walks. And frankly it annoys me! I don’t really want to be remembered for getting the wrong person, or being ignored, or being mucked about by some bodyguards.

“It [the grid walk] has grown a life of its own,” he added. “But I shouldn’t knock it because it’s become my USP.

“In America a couple of weeks ago, kids were coming up and going ‘Man, we love you.’ And I’m like ‘How do you know me?’ And of course it’s through TikTok, or some crazy grid walk moment.

“My Twitter following went up by 50,000 after the thing with Megan Thee Stallion. And again 30-40,000 after Miami.”

Almost 900,000 people now follow him on X.

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