Martin Brundle, former F1 driver and long-time pundit, has shared an intriguing story about his relationship with seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, revealing that the pair had a five-year period of silence due to a misunderstanding.
Brundle, who raced alongside Schumacher at Benetton in 1992, explained on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast that the fallout began because of a miscommunication. According to Brundle, an interview he gave was misquoted, and his words were translated poorly into German. The result? A headline that upset Schumacher, although Brundle admitted he still doesn’t know exactly what it was about.
“I have no idea what it was to this day,” Brundle said. “But Michael got very upset, and he wouldn’t speak to me for five years. It was really odd.”
For five years, the two drivers were at odds, despite having shared a brief but intense period as teammates early in Schumacher’s F1 career. However, their relationship was eventually mended in a rather unexpected way.
During a sabbatical between his stints at Ferrari and Mercedes, Schumacher and Brundle unexpectedly crossed paths in a nightclub in Valencia. After a few drinks together, Brundle recalled, “We got drunk together, and it broke the ice again. He was sort of hanging off my shoulder, saying ‘My teammate, my teammate!’”
From that point on, the tension was gone, and the two were able to reconnect. “We were fine after that,” Brundle added.
Despite the rocky start, Brundle and Schumacher went on to have a cordial relationship after that night, and the misunderstanding was laid to rest. Brundle admitted it was a “real shame” that the miscommunication caused such a prolonged period of silence between them.
This revelation sheds light on the often intense personalities in Formula 1, where emotions can run high, and misunderstandings can have a lasting impact—no matter how minor the issue may seem.
