In his short-lived F1 career so far, Williams’ Franco Colapinto has gone toe-to-toe with some of the biggest names in the sport — often coming out the better on track. However, his most recent interaction with a legend of the sport, Martin Brundle didn’t pan out too well for the Argentine.
Brundle, a former F1 podium sitter and broadcasting legend, tried to get a word in with the Williams driver during the customary grid walk at the 2024 US GP but was blanked by the 21-year-old.
As the footage went viral, Colapinto caught a lot of flak from fans on social media, especially on X (formerly Twitter). That said, veteran F1 photojournalist, Kym Illman took to his Instagram account earlier this week to reveal that the Argentine driver had clarified his on-air “snubbing” of the former McLaren and Benetton driver.
Illman wrote, “I asked him about the Martin Brundle incident on the grid last race. He said he was just in a hurry and there was no intention to snub the veteran Sky reporter. He arrived with his good friend and karting coach from years ago, Lucas.”
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The video of the incident doing the rounds of social media shows Brundle trying to approach the driver as he made his way onto the grid. However, after saying he had never spoken to him and wanted a small word before the race, Colapinto hilariously blanked him and just walked on. Brundle then quickly transferred his focus to celebrity chef, Gordan Ramsay.
In all fairness, the stick Colapinto got from the fans online was a bit harsh. It is no secret that once the grid starts to form it really does get busy for the drivers. They have short briefings with their teams and race engineers. Moreover, some drivers like to just zone out before they get into the car for the all-important Grand Prix itself.
Colapinto becomes a part of a long list of Brundle’s grid walk ghosts
This wasn’t the first time that a celebrity or driver left Brundle hanging for that matter. Most famously, he was ghosted by tennis legends, the Williams sisters on the grid a few years ago.
More recently, however, Brundle had to face the snub from Academy Award winner, Brad Pitt at the 2022 US GP. Pitt himself got a lot of stick for his refusal to chat with Ayrton Senna’s F3 rival but made it up the following year.
Promoting his new movie titled ‘F1’, Pitt conducted an interview with the Sky Sports F1 commentator last year. Making up for his earlier snub, he offered the Briton a role in the upcoming as a gesture for his services to the sport for over four decades.
