Martin Brundle has been recognised as part of King Charles III’s New Years honours list, with him being made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
The award is for services to motor racing and sports broadcasting, with Brundle joining a host of other sports personalities honoured by the Royal Family.
Known for his cutting analysis and knowledge of F1, Brundle was previously a driver before he became a mainstay in British sports broadcasting. He made his F1 debut in 1984 and raced alongside some of the greats including Michael Schumacher at Benetton in 1992.
Fans have reacted to the news that Brundle is receiving an OBE with universal acclaim, with many saying that it was ‘well overdue’ given his prior success.
Having raced with some of the great drivers of F1, he has also worked alongside some of the broadcasting legends including one that he described as a ‘Pele’ of commentary when once speaking to Sky Sports.
Martin Brundle learned from ‘Pele’ of commentary Murray Walker
Brundle has a decorated broadcasting career having won four BAFTAs for his F1 commentary and three Royal Television Society Awards for his F1 punditry.
He also worked alongside Murray Walker, who was described as the ‘voice of F1’ during his time commentating on the championship. Brundle said the ‘smartest decision’ he ever made in his TV career was standing up to commentate, as that was the preferred method of Walker.
Paying tribute to Walker in the days after he passed away in 2021, Brundle said he learned a lot from him for his own broadcasting career.
“We learned so much. Learning to commentate alongside Murray Walker for a number of years is like having Pele teach you how to kick a ball because he was so good at it,” said Brundle.
“So diligent and he went around and talked to everybody.”
Murray Walker never received Royal Family honour
Walker famously never received a knighthood or any of the other honours that are awarded by the Royal Family during his time commentating or in the years after he retired.
Brundle said he should have always become ‘Sir Murray Walker’ for his efforts to bring motorsport to British TV, having played a crucial role in the early 80s and 90s.
When he started in TV, Brundle was allowed to complete a grid walk just minutes before a race start which enabled him to interview drivers.
Brundle interviewed pretty much everyone apart from Lewis Hamilton, who preferred to spend the minutes doing a debrief with his engineers.
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