Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle has revealed the details behind the end of his Formula 1 career in 1996, when he was unceremoniously fired by Eddie Jordan.
Brundle had entered the twilight years of his F1 career in 1996, Jordan becoming his third team in three years after a one-year stint at McLaren in 1994 and sharing the second Ligier seat in 1995.
Neither of those seats yielded results; poor reliability and results led to the Briton being dropped by McLaren after just one year, despite a podium, also departing Ligier after matching this result.
For 1996, he moved to Jordan, but endured a year off the rostrum, and had a dramatic crash in Australia that set the tone for the season.
Brundle believed that he had done enough to secure his drive for 1997 after a fifth place finish in his final race.
“I finished fifth in my final F1 race as I finished fifth in my first F1 race. It was Japan 1996,” Brundle explained in an interview with Sky Sports F1.
“Long story actually, I thought I was driving for Eddie [Jordan] in ’97. When I see drivers getting farewell tours and all that sort of thing, I’m slightly envious.”
Martin Brundle recalls a different era of F1
Brundle then recalled how he found out that he had lost his drive for 1997, in circumstances he labelled “pretty harsh”.
“I was at what I call the racing car show at Birmingham, and, ‘How long do you have?’ I said, ‘I don’t know another hour. Do you need me to do something?’
“They were like, ‘No, it might be better if you’re not here because Eddie announced Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella as the two drivers.’ And that’s how I found out I was no longer a Formula 1 driver that day.
“It all got a little bit murky, but honestly, if I were Eddie, I’d have done the same thing because I was at the end of my shelf life, and he got two young charges in there. But it was still a pretty harsh way to find out.”
Brundle’s trip down memory lane harks back to a simpler time in F1, but also acts as a reminder of how far teams have come in terms of engagement.
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