Martin Brundle once overlooked Michael Schumacher and named three-podium driver as his favourite F1 teammate

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Martin Brundle might be best known for his commentary to newer fans of Formula 1 or those who have gotten into the sport after watching Brad Pitt’s latest film.

However, it should be remembered that Martin Brundle had a very impressive racing career in Formula 1 and beyond.

Brundle had a fierce rivalry with Ayrton Senna before reaching Formula 1, and ended up being paired with some incredibly talented drivers during his 158 Grand Prix starts.

Michael Schumacher and Brundle were teammates at Benetton in 1992, before the British driver was dropped for Riccardo Patrese.

Brundle was denied a coveted F1 race win by Schumacher that season, and he remains one of the most decorated drivers ever to race in the sport without a victory.

Schumacher and Brundle didn’t speak for years, but the renowned commentator had a far better relationship with one of his other teammates during his time in the sport.

READ MORE: Martin Brundle says one Michael Schumacher lap left him ‘convinced’ that the timings were ‘dodgy’

Martin Brundle explains why Mark Blundell was his favourite Formula 1 teammate

Brundle was asked in the Drivers on Drivers book who his favourite Formula 1 teammate was, and he answered: “Ah, that would be Mark Blundell, undoubtedly.

“We were very close and had a lot of fun together. We were like blood brothers. In sports car racing, you have to work with each other, to trust each other and leave the ego behind a little bit.

“And you know, if you’re in a Le Mans 24-hour race, you need to know that the other driver won’t be bouncing across the kerbs if you’ve agreed not to use them, or ground it, or be bouncing off backmarkers, and you’ve got to set the car up to fit three different sizes of driver and [suit different] driving styles and what have you.

“So, it’s a complex business, motorsport teammates.”

Mark Blundell’s F1 career consisted of only 61 Grand Prix starts, but in that time, he secured three podiums and 32 points.

The pair started working together in 1991 at Brabham before being reunited in 1993 at Ligier.

Their second season together led to both drivers finishing on the podium, and a hilarious story about a case of mistaken identity…

READ MORE: Mark Blundell reveals costly decision that denied him F1 title shot at Williams

Martin Brundle explains how Mark Blundell used his F1 trophy to get out of a traffic stop

Brundle explained later on in the book an amusing run-in that he and Blundell had during their time as teammates in Formula 1.

He recalled “Mark Blundell and I were at Imola when we were teammates. I finished third that day for Ligier, but he crashed on the first lap.

“So I’d had a great day and I got a great big trophy, which is sitting in my cabinet today. It was 1993 and I was larking around pulling the handbrake on as we were leaving the péage, the toll at the autopista, and a policeman tried to put his little red bat out to stop us, and we didn’t know what that meant at the time.

“Eventually, we got pulled over on the motorway, and they pulled Mark out of the car. I’m sitting in the car with my wife and my trainer, and Mark’s beginning to get money out of his pocket to pay a fine.

“When he gave his name, they said, in broken English, ‘You just finished third in the Grand Prix at Imola,’ and Mark suddenly twigged.

“He realised they’d got the names mixed up and came running back to the car and said, ‘Gimme the trophy, gimme the trophy.’

“And he goes marching over with this massive trophy from Imola, and shows it to them: ‘Yeah, yeah, me in third place.’ Then I saw the cash coming back out of the window, and a handshake and off we went!”

In their 32 races as teammates, Brundle finished ahead of Blundell 14 times, but qualifying was a different story.

Blundell came out on top 17-15 during their qualifying efforts, although they were unable to convert their second row lockout at the 1993 French Grand Prix into another more than a fifth place finish for Brundle and an accident for his favourite teammate.