Martin Brundle reflects on ‘car crash’ F1 grid walk with Machine Gun Kelly

The Sky Sports broadcaster is known for his amusing encounters with celebrities on the F1 grid

Martin Brundle has labelled his encounters with Machine Gun Kelly and Shaquille O’Neal on the F1 grid this year as “car crash moments.”

Sky Sports commentator Brundle, a former F1 driver himself, is known for his amusing and sometimes awkward encounters with drivers and celebrities on the grid before races.

In Brazil in November, Brundle bumped into American rapper Machine Gun Kelly and an odd interview occurred, in which the American rapper fiddled with Brundle’s poppy, asked him to play the air guitar and put his thumb down to the camera at the end.

Brundle also briefly encountered O’Neal in Las Vegas, with the NBA legend simply saying “Lewis Hamilton baby”. The pundit spoke about his grid walk highlights of 2023 in a Q&A on the Sky Sports website.

“Oh my goodness, what a year it’s been grid walking,” he said. “I loved talking to Florence Pugh, for example, on the grid in Silverstone and Maria Sharapova in Abu Dhabi, just meeting nice people who are enjoying our sport.

“And then I’ve had some car crash moments with Machine Gun Kelly and Shaquille O’Neal, whose answer was short and sweet, but nobody’s ever called him short and sweet before, I don’t think.

“I’ve maintained my position of never watching one, so I have no idea. I’ll leave that for other people to decide, but it’s nice to meet nice people.

Machine Gun Kelly put his thumb down to the camera after a bizarre exchange with Martin Brundle in Brazil in November (Sky F1 )

“But actually I love talking to the drivers as well, because that’s a unique sports broadcasting opportunity. So in the end, it will be quick interactions with drivers that I enjoy most.”

Brundle added that his heartwarming interaction with singer Sam Ryder at Silverstone in July was the encounter which surprised him the most.

“He was effusive, and thrilled and contacted me on Instagram afterwards,” Brundle added.

“I’ve never seen a bloke so excited to be on the grid.”

Brundle also endured hilarious encounters with DJ Khaled and Pharrell Williams in Miami in 2022, as well as a slightly frosty exchange with Cara Delevingne at Silverstone earlier this year, in which the model refused to talk to Brundle.