Formula Two news
Exclusive: Interview with Alex Brundle
12 March 2009Alex Brundle will line up on the grid for the first Formula 2 race in Valencia at the end of May, as the Englishman looks to make the most of his three years' experience in Formula Palmer Audi. Son of former F1 driver Martin, Alex talked to GPUpdate.net during the series launch day at Brands Hatch.
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"I think the F2 car looks quite good although you need to get your hands on it to know what it's really like; there don't appear to be any obvious problems either at this stage of development which is very good - I'm looking forward to driving it."
Having spent three years in the Palmer Audi car, Alex's 2008 season was his best to date with one pole position and three podium finishes resulting in sixth place in the final championship standings. F2 will be a different type of challenge for the 18-year-old: "I decided to join over the Christmas period following a Spanish F3 test which went really well. But the costs of sponsorship for even Formula 3 are unrealistic so this is the best way to move forward. This year we've managed to find a few sponsors so it has been relatively pain-free for us, although finding the money for a drive with a good F3 team is especially hard for a first year kind of guy like me."
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| Brundle Senior with former ITV co-commentator James Allen |
The Brundle name was made famous by Alex's father, Martin, who will be commentating in Formula 1 for the BBC this year, having moved from ITV. Martin drove in 158 Grands Prix between 1984 and 1996, and partnered the likes of Michael Schumacher at Benetton and Mika Häkkinen at McLaren as well as finishing a close second to the great Ayrton Senna in the 1983 British Formula 3 championship. "I grew up watching my Dad race," Alex continued. "When your Dad does something on a high level, you watch it and enjoy it, sitting infront of the TV in a cardboard box made into a Renault. Everybody always compares me with him, it's kind of standard procedure; it has positive and negatives, with the positives being the contacts and knowledge. The negatives really are endless comparisons and being in the spotlight with people watching you all the time, especially when you are growing up and learning your way. It is hard to be in the limelight all the time but there's a balance."
Unlike many young racing drivers, Alex is also looking at other career options alongside racing: "I'm going to Nottingham University at the moment and studying Management - it's always good to have a back-up incase racing fails. So many guys put so much on the line for this, but you've got to have a balance somewhere. It is hard to balance the two lives, because one day you have a teacher shouting at you because you haven't done your course work and the next everybody is running after you, trying to talk to you. It's not a case of racing taking over your life, it's just doing what everyone else usually does plus the racing. It was my decision though to move into motorsports, and karting initially."
"My goal is Formula 1 obviously. I did have this weird scenario where I thought I wanted to play the triangle for a while…no, Formula 1 is where I want to be!"
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Test Schedule
| 10 Dec. | 
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve |
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| 09 Dec. |
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve |
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| 04 Dec. | 
Valencia |
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| 03 Dec. |
Valencia |
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| 26 Oct. |
Barcelona |
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