Grid Walks

A popular part of Martin’s TV role is his famous pre-race “grid walk” where Martin patrols the starting grid with a single cameraman in tow attempting to interview key team members, drivers and celebrities. It is live, and unscripted which can lead to some fascinating TV viewing.

Sometimes Martin gets interesting insights from team bosses and drivers, sometimes they refuse to talk to him. Sometimes he meets some fascinating celebrities and sometimes he meets some random and very dull monarchs or politicians.

The unpredictability makes for great television (even if it all goes wrong), Martin is fearless in fighting other TV crews to get his interviews and seems to thrive on the adrenalin of standing in front of millions of views and simply winging it. For many it is a highlight of British F1 TV coverage – In what other mainstream sport do you get interviews with the players minutes before the beginning of the game?

Here are some exerts from previous grid walks:

(Interviewing Jenson Button)
Martin: “You’re getting pretty good at this, aren’t you?”
Jenson: “The qualifying bit, yeah; we’ve just gotta sort the race out!”
Martin: “You started 13th last year and finished second; you’re starting second this year – you should be first at least, maybe much better!”
Jenson: “I don’t think it quite works like that!”
Martin: “Anything you wanna ask me? I’m fed up with always having to think of the questions.”
Jenson: “Yeah – nice to see you’ve pulled your trousers down!” [Jenson commented last year that Martin wore his trousers very high up his waist.]
Martin: “Be careful – you look like an icecream man in that suit.”

(Interviewing Ozzy Osbourne)
Martin [who really should have known better than to attempt this interview!]: “I wanna have a word with this guy because he’s a complete and utter fruitcake ... Ozzy! Good to see you. Sharon had some good news this week, I hear.”
Ozzy Osbourne: [rambles incoherently about a musical he’s writing instead of talking about his wife.]
Martin: “Alright – I’ll try and think of a question for that answer! Did you bring the dogs with you?”
Ozzy : “No, they’re all at home shitting.”
Martin (embarrassed): “Excellent, thank you very much! I think we’ll move on! [to us] Now, what else can I tell you about the race today, cos you might be slightly more interested in that!”

(Interviewing Bernie Ecclestone)
Martin: “Talking of four-letter words, did I see Bernie wander past?! Bernie, we wanna know who you think’s gonna win today.”
Bernie: “Williams.”
Martin: “Why?”
Bernie: “Cos they’ll be quicker.”
Martin: “Why not Michael, then, he seems pretty handy?”
Bernie: “Don’t let him hear what I’m saying!”

(Interviewing Frankie Dettori)
Martin: “Frankie, welcome to the grid. First time for you on the grid of a Grand Prix?
Frankie Dettori: “First time in my life and I’m dying to get in that car. They got 900 horsepower in there, I only got one! ... You can smell the atmosphere growing and the smell of the tyres and the engines and I hope it’s gonna be a fantastic race.”
Martin: “Yeah, it must smell a whole lot better than the start of a horserace!”

These and many more of Martin's F1 quotes can be found at www.brundlequotes.com

Top of Page