Martin Brundle explains Michael Schumacher’s five-year feud and how a drunken night out saved their friendship

Michael Schumacher liked to party and that was good news for Martin Brundle.

The seven times Formula 1 world champion was known for his big outbursts, as evidenced by a Netflix documentary titled with his name, which included clips of a pool party with rival David Coulthard.

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On track, the German was as serious as can be, meaning that when criticism from a former teammate made headlines, it was not to be taken lightly.

Once it was a gridwalk legend Martijn Brundle who felt his anger after working with Schumacher at Benetton Ford in 1992.

Brundle recalled what it was like to go from being a colleague of one of the greatest sports heroes of all time to someone commenting on him in the media, and recalled a story that went wrong.

He explained on the Sky Sports F1 podcast: “Well, strangely enough we got into an argument because something I said was translated, taken out of context and translated into German and put in a headline in a newspaper. And Michael got very upset.

“To this day I have no idea what it was. And he wouldn’t talk to me for five years. It was really strange.

“So I really don’t know what the problem was, but that was a real shame.”

Fortunately for Brundle, his relationship with Schumacher was mended during a party in Spain.

He continued: “We got drunk together in a nightclub in Valencia while he was on sabbatical Mercedes And Ferrariand after that we were fine.

“He was kind of hanging on my shoulder, he said, ‘My teammate, my teammate,’ and we… It broke the ice again.”

If Schumacher is the racing GOAT, Brundle undoubtedly has that honor as a much-loved pundit who has stormed the Formula 1 grids before the race since his retirement in 1996.

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The 65-year-old Briton’s media career has included many of the sport’s greats, including Lewis HamiltonSebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.

However, he acknowledges that times have changed in recent years, with the grid packed with celebrities, meaning he can’t find a place to talk to a driver.

He explained: “Drivers would come over and have a good chat. I remember talking to it once Michael Schumacher and Gerhard Berger at the same time, and could do what I wanted and go where I wanted. The power grid was generally abandoned at that time.”

Hamilton is known not to do pre-race interviews out of superstition, but his Red Bull rival, Verstappen, likes to talk and gets rave reviews from Brundle.

Brundle once stopped the Dutch world champion in the run-up to 2023 British Grand Prix despite the fact that we only have a minute left until the start of the national anthem.

After getting a few words from Verstappen, the expert then said: “That was good of the pole sitter to stop and have a chat, he is always calm.

“You know what, I know he’s not always the most popular driver with some people, but of all the drivers on the grid, he’s the one I would want to have a beer with because I find him extremely straightforward and an honest guy. ”