Sky F1 commentator Martin Brundle has become an unknowing victim after giving his reaction on live television to a fake online quote, purported to have come from Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, about Lewis Hamilton and McLaren.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen took a giant step towards the F1 2024 title at last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, where he ended a 10-race winless run by winning from 17th on the grid.
Martin Brundle at centre of Sky F1 blunder with fake Helmut Marko quote reaction
Verstappen’s first victory since the Spanish GP on June 23 came as a potentially fatal blow to the title hopes of McLaren driver Lando Norris, who could only manage sixth at Interlagos despite starting from pole position.
Verstappen now leads the Drivers’ standings by 62 points ahead of the final three races of F1 2024 and could clinch a fourth consecutive World Championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix later this month.
Despite having the fastest car at his disposal for a large proportion of the season, Norris has struggled to make consistent inroads into Verstappen’s points lead over the course of F1 2024, winning just three times in Miami, the Netherlands and Singapore.
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Marko has been a consistent critic of Norris and recently came under fire for referring to the 24-year-old’s perceived “mental weaknesses.”
However, a fake quote has recently circulated online, claiming that Marko had suggested that seven-time World Champion Hamilton would have beaten Verstappen to the title this year if he was in the McLaren.
Hamilton memorably duelled with Verstappen over the course of the classic 2021 season, which ended with the Mercedes driver losing the title in highly controversial circumstances at the Abu Dhabi decider.
The fabricated line made it onto a live Sky Sports News broadcast on Monday, when Brundle was invited to respond to the comment and described it as the latest “potshot” in the war or words between Red Bull and McLaren.
Brundle said: “I don’t agree with that.
“It’s a potshot between the classic McLaren versus Red Bull [rivalry]. It was Red Bull versus Mercedes [previously].
“That’s just typical Formula 1 one-upmanship that we see all the time. I quite like it actually, it’s all part of the sport.
“Lewis, of course, is one of the all-time greats. He’s currently seventh in the World Championship, two points behind George Russell.
“He won brilliantly at Silverstone, won at Spa because George was disqualified.
“But I don’t think I’ve seen anything that Lewis is doing this year that would have made enough of a difference to have won the World Championship over Max Verstappen and Red Bull.”
Hamilton stands as the most decorated driver in F1 history, having equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of seven titles in 2020 before becoming the first man to surpass 100 Grand Prix wins and pole positions the following year.
After two successive winless seasons in 2022/23, Hamilton announced in February that he would join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from F1 2025, ending his long association with Mercedes.
Hamilton cut a frustrated figure in Sao Paulo last weekend, where he failed to reach Q3 in qualifying for both the sprint and main race and endured a frustrating run to 10th in wet conditions.
Speaking after the race at Interlagos, Hamilton admitted it is “devastating” to be ending his Mercedes career on such a limp note with just three races left of F1 2024.
He said: “It doesn’t feel good, obviously.
“It’s devastating to have these bad races in the second half of the season, but all I can say is we’re trying coming into the weekends, but it’s definitely not acceptable. It’s definitely not good enough.
“We have to take accountability, I have to take accountability, but I am doing the best with what I’ve got.
“For some reason, the car has been the worst of it this weekend and I don’t know what it is. We’re going to have to find out what it is.
“Let’s not talk about the car, because the car’s no good.
“Yesterday was terrible, today was terrible. Yesterday was bad. Qualifying was bad. Sprint race was bad. The car’s just been bad all weekend.
“I’m not fighting for the championship [in F1 2024]. Doesn’t matter really where we finish in the championship. I don’t care if I finish ahead of George or behind George, it doesn’t make no difference to me.
“I just want to keep the car out of the wall and try to score points if I can for the team.
“If they give me a car that doesn’t bounce off the track in the next few races, then hopefully we can get a better result.
“But looking forward to Christmas.”
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